


The Only Heaven I’ll Be Sent To

by citrusbroadway



Category: N/A - Fandom
Genre: Angels, College, Demon/Human Relationships, Demons, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff, Friendship, Hate to Love, Light Angst, M/M, New York City, University, but hopefully this won't be the worst thing you ever read, i've literally never written anything in my entire life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-12
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:41:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 22,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21770047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/citrusbroadway/pseuds/citrusbroadway
Summary: Luis Valdez was a normal college student until he received a death sentence from his own personal -- annoyingly attractive -- demon, who doesn't seem to be leaving any time soon.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first real story I've ever written in my entire 21 years of life. So if it's bad, tell me, but please be nice about it, lmao.

Luis sat cross-legged on his bed with his laptop in front of him, typing up some assignment for his computer engineering class. He’d been working for so long that his mind was practically numb. His fingers were sore and his eyes were glazed. But it was nearing the end of the semester, and since Luis was the definition of a procrastinator, it was cram time.

Minutes flew by and Luis continued staring at his computer screen, desperately hoping for the assignment to finish itself, when suddenly, he saw a man appear in the middle of his bedroom from above his laptop screen. A man… just appeared. 

Luis, of course, jumped ten feet in the air, nearly throwing his laptop off the bed. He made eye contact with the tall man, barely catching his breath as he slowly backed up towards the bedroom door. He didn’t make a sound.

The man laughed, though it didn’t seem malicious. Luis stared bewilderedly, grasping behind him for the doorknob, finally grabbing it and twisting it only to find it locked. And… his door definitely didn’t usually lock from the inside, did it? Luis was definitely hallucinating, wasn’t he? A man just physically appeared in the middle of his room, seemingly out of thin air. But that’s impossible, isn’t it? He was hiding under the bed or something, and Luis hadn’t noticed him when he first crawled out — that was the only logical explanation. These were the thoughts that quickly passed through Luis’s mind as he struggled with the doorknob. The thoughts then turned to silent screaming and bright red exclamation points and question marks flashing across his brain.

Amidst all of this panic, Luis allowed his eyes to briefly wander over to the clock to check the time. His roommate, Kaiya, wouldn’t be home for another ten minutes or so. Maybe he could distract the intruder to buy time until Kaiya got home; then he could scream for help. He lived in an apartment building, so his neighbors might hear him if he made a noise. But then again, he did live in New York City, a city with a serious case of the bystander effect.

Luis kept his eyes on the strange — albeit, attractive — man in his bedroom, and that’s definitely not a thought that should have just crossed his mind. Attractive? Really? He could be a murderer, or worse. The man kept staring right back at Luis, a smile on his face the entire time. He looked to be in his early twenties and had clear, light blue eyes that shined in the dim light coming from the single lamp in the otherwise dark room. He had chiseled cheekbones and well-groomed stubble. The man had deep tan skin and dark curly hair… and why on God’s green earth was Luis even thinking about these things? Call him crazy, but it was like the man had some sort of enrapturing effect, like Luis genuinely couldn’t stop his mind from filling with thoughts about the beautiful man — and dammit, he was doing it again.

“Hey. You’re gonna die in six months,” the man spoke. His voice was deep and reverberated around the room. Luis felt the voice in his chest. Who the hell was this guy?

Luis continued to stare at the man, watching closely for any sign of movement, waiting for the man to start swinging an ax or something. The man chuckled.

“Just a heads up,” he said, laughter in his voice.

A moment passed.

“What?” Luis said. Of all the things he could’ve said or screamed, the only thing he managed to get out was “what?”. There was something seriously wrong with his brain. He blamed it on his computer engineering assignment.

“My name’s Adrian, by the way,” the man said, completely ignoring Luis’s weak query. “Nice room. It’s very ‘broke university student-chic.’” The man — Adrian — laughed at his own stupid joke.

“How could you possibly know when I’m going to die?” Luis managed to stammer out. Why was he even entertaining this guy? He was most definitely hallucinating. 

“I’m a demon,” Adrian said, very matter-of-factly. “And I’m a messenger. So be prepared for that, I guess.” The guy started strolling casually around Luis’s room, almost like he’d been there a million times. Oh God, what if he had? Luis screamed internally.

Noticing Luis’s wide-eyed stare, Adrian smirked a little and raised his eyebrows. “You are Luis Valdez, right? That’d be kind of awkward…” he trailed off, mumbling the last part more to himself than to Luis.

Adrian walked over to Luis’s desk where a pile of random college papers sat. He rummaged among them for a quick second, before seemingly spotting Luis’s name written on one of them. 

“Yeah, you are,” and he smirked again. Seriously, what the hell was going on?

Adrian sighed. “You’re very quiet.”

Then Luis heard the front door open and he felt relief enter his body. He still hadn’t completely processed anything that had just happened, but thank God his best friend was home. Before he could react and say something, he heard footsteps headed towards his room. Should he warn her? Should he scream before she entered the room? 

“No one else can see me, by the way,” Adrian said pointedly. Luis blinked at him. “So maybe don’t try to say anything, or else you’ll seem crazy.” Maybe he was, Luis thought to himself.

But he didn’t even have time to say anything before his bedroom door opened. He really was a procrastinator, even in the face of possible death. Also, why wasn’t the door locked anymore? Kaiya appeared in the doorway, looking exhausted from a long day of classes and work. 

She had barely stepped in the room when Luis blurted out, “Do you see this guy?” pointing at Adrian over his shoulder with his thumb, who was now sitting on the edge of the bed. 

Adrian threw his hands in the air and gave Luis a dumbfounded look. “What — what did I just say?”

Kaiya looked at Luis inquiringly, her head tilting to the side a little like it always did when she was confused and vaguely concerned. 

“Uh, no. Are you good?” She asked, a brief chuckle coming out at the end of her words. 

“I’m fine. You really don’t see this dude? He’s literally sitting on the edge of the bed.” Luis gestured widely to Adrian. The tall man sighed exasperatedly, shaking his head. 

“Um… honey,” Kaiya began in an overly sweet voice, and Luis rolled his eyes because she was about to do that thing where she acts like his mother every time he overworks himself. “I think you’ve been studying too long. Let’s go get you some hot chocolate.”

She walked over to him and grabbed his arm, leading him out of the room. Luis shot a glare back at Adrian, who got up and followed the two down the hallway towards the kitchen.

Luis sat down on one of the barstools at the kitchen counter, and Adrian sat down right next to him. Luis angrily sighed. He watched Kaiya start to make him a cup of instant hot chocolate as he tried to ignore the — attractive — possible murderer/demon sitting next to him. Demon? There’s no fucking way this guy was a literal demon. What does that even mean? Brief thoughts of what that meant about the afterlife passed through Luis’s brain. He shook his head and sighed again.

“I don’t need hot chocolate, Kay. I’m fine.”

“You’re getting hot chocolate, Luis.” And so Luis drank some hot chocolate.

════════

About ten minutes passed of both Kaiya and Adrian staring at Luis while he drank. No one said anything. Luis was sure his friend thought he was crazy, and he thought himself a little insane, too. He would glance over in Adrian’s direction every now and then to see if he was still there, and he always was.

After he finished his drink, he thanked Kaiya and stated that he was going to go for a walk outside to hopefully clear his mind and get rid of the demonic hallucination he was most likely having. As he got up to put his jacket on and walk out the front door, Adrian followed him.

“Have fun. Don’t get lost!” Kaiya shouted at his back as the door closed behind him.

Luis walked down the hallway towards the elevator and pushed the call button a little harder than he should have.

The elevator arrived and the two men walked in, side by side. Luis could feel intense heat coming off of Adrian’s arms, like he had just come inside from a long day of standing out in the sun. It felt kind of nice since the hallway was cold, as it was late December in New York City. Luis ignored that thought.

When the elevator doors closed, Adrian gave Luis a close-mouthed grin. Luis just glared at him, which, of course, made Adrian chuckle. This guy sucks, Luis thought. 

“I told you no one else could see me, and you ignored me,” Adrian said, the smile still on his lips.

“Yeah, well, I’m a little confused right now!” Luis nearly shouted, annoyance prevalent in his voice. “I’m pretty sure that I’m either completely imagining you, or you and Kay are playing some stupid joke on me, which would be pretty fucked up, by the way, since it’s the end of the semester and I’m already stressed enough as it is. The last thing I need is to be afraid for my life because of some random dude who appears in my room and claims to be a demon!” Luis ranted, not feeling much better like he thought he would.

“Okay, first of all, chill. Second of all, if I wanted to hurt you, don’t you think I would’ve done that by now?” Adrian said, still smiling. Why did this dude smile all the time? What was so funny to him? Why did this have to happen to Luis of all people?

Luis just groaned, and fortunately, the elevator doors opened. He lived on one of the highest floors in the building, which he usually loved because of the gorgeous views it offered, but he regretted at that moment for inducing the worst elevator ride he’d had in his life.

He walked out of the elevator and through the front doors of the building, not even bothering to say hello to Gary the doorman like he normally did. This demon man was turning him into a different person, Luis thought angrily.

He didn’t have a destination in mind. He just walked aimlessly down the busy streets, hoping he would somehow lose Adrian in the crowd. He never did, of course. Adrian followed close behind, almost appearing to walk through people.

Luis eventually ended up in front of the small convenience store that he frequented. Then he hatched a plan. He marched inside, knowing Adrian would follow him. He led him to the back of the store where there were no other customers.

“Okay, so you’re a demon or whatever, right? And no one else can see you? I want you to prove it,” Luis stated with all of the confidence he could muster, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

“You’re not very intimidating, you know,” Adrian replied. He was amused once again.

“I’m not trying to be — oh, for the love of God, please just cooperate with me. I feel like I’m going insane —“

Adrian cut off his rambling. “Okay, okay, how do you want me to prove it to you?”

Luis looked around. He saw one of the workers cleaning in the aisle opposite the one they were standing in, across from the main walkaway. The worker looked up and gave Luis a friendly smile, which he returned and hoped it didn’t look like a grimace. He saw a shelf next to them that displayed bags of trail mix.

“I want you to knock over one of those bags, and I’m going to stand away from it to see if that employee over there notices.” Luis wasn’t entirely confident in his plan. Honestly, he wasn’t sure what he wanted the outcome to be. Either the worker sees Adrian knocking over the bag and Luis realizes this was all some weird prank, or the worker doesn’t see and Luis is actually, probably, most likely hallucinating some random annoying demon who is threatening him with death.

“Okay.” Adrian stepped over to the shelf, made sure the worker was facing in their direction, and promptly knocked off one of the trail mix bags in the same way a cat would bat something off of a coffee table. 

The worker looked up at the noise and then over to Luis, who was pretending to be preoccupied with something on a shelf a little ways away. It didn’t seem like the worker blamed Luis for the falling bag, because he just chuckled and muttered something about his coworker not having set the bags up correctly before returning to his job of mopping.

Luis stared at the worker dumbfounded. He heard Adrian laugh and say, “That was kind of fun,” before knocking over another bag.

The worker looked up again and started to say something, but before he could stop himself, Luis shouted, “Stop it!” at Adrian. The smile that was on the worker’s face quickly vanished as he glanced over to Luis.

Realizing his mistake, Luis pulled a quick recovery by pointing to his ear and mumbling, “Bluetooth,” like that explained the whole outburst. The worker must have bought it though, because he gave him a brief smile before walking away, presumably finished with his mopping, or just terrified of Luis.

Luis sighed the deepest sigh he ever sighed in his life. He then walked angrily out of the store, earning weird looks from other patrons as he stormed past. Luis wasn’t normally the type of guy that was quick to anger, but there was something about this annoyingly attractive demon man that made his blood boil. Maybe it was the fact that he wouldn’t stop following him.

════════

The two men walked around the streets in silence. They ended up on one of the less beaten paths in Central Park, where they stopped to sit on one of the benches. Luis was so irritated that he was able to ignore the cold metal, which he would normally complain about non-stop to Kaiya.

He sighed again.

“Can you please stop sighing,” Adrian groaned. Satisfied that he had finally done something to irritate the taller man, Luis grinned for the first time all day. 

“No,” he retorted like a child.

There was a brief silence, then, “Okay,” Adrian simply stated. And for some reason, that pissed Luis off more than anything the man had done so far.

“Okay? That’s all you have to say? You’ve done nothing but harass me since you showed up in my room — uninvited, might I add — and all you can say is ‘okay’? You come into my life telling me I’m going to die in six months — which is insane, and I definitely don’t believe you at all — and you act like none of this is even a big deal! Honestly, you’re the crazy one here.” Luis had always had a bad habit of ranting about nothing.

Adrian just put on one of his signature closed-mouthed grins. He stared at Luis, his eyes twinkling underneath the street lamps. It was a few minutes after dusk, and Luis was exhausted. He could say that that day was without a doubt the most frustrating day of his life. 

“Are you gonna say anything, or are you just gonna stare at me with that stupid smile?” Luis spat out bitterly.

Adrian looked up at the sky. Snow was falling and settling on the bushes and ground around them and on Luis’s clothes and hair, but it seemed like the snow melted as soon as it touched Adrian.

“What do you want me to say?” Adrian spoke. His dulcet voice was soft, the softest it had been all day. There was no trace of jest.

“I don’t know. How are you even a… demon? That stuff isn’t real. Demons and angels and God and the Devil, things like that — none of it’s real.” Luis said indignantly.

“Look, I’m not here to debate religion with you. That’s actually the last thing I want to do,” Adrian huffed, throwing his hands in the air in mock surrender. Luis gave him a glare with no real malice behind it; he was so tired. “I told you, I’m a messenger. And I’m supposed to guide you to your death. Kind of like a guardian angel, but the opposite. I was sent to make sure you die when you’re supposed to die.”

“Well, what the hell is that supposed to mean? Does this happen to everyone? Does everyone get their own personal demon to escort them straight to Hell? Wait — does this mean I’m going to Hell?” Luis was off again, a million questions flying through his mind at once.

“Yes, you’re going to Hell,” Adrian stated.

“Yeah, don’t sugarcoat it or anything,” Luis mumbled bitingly.

“You’re the one who asked,” Adrian’s voice trailed up at the end in irritation, but he pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “Listen, I get that this is probably super weird —“

“Probably?”

“— but I’m just doing my job. Today is December 12th. So you have until June 12th to do whatever the hell you want. You could move to another country or rob some stores or become a Monk — I don’t care. But you’re stuck with me for six months. I have to make sure everything goes smoothly.”

“You make my inevitable death sound like putting a down payment on a house or something,” Luis muttered. “And you didn’t answer any of my questions.”

“I wasn’t listening to any of your questions.” Adrian chuckled. Luis groaned at the sound. It might be his least favorite sound in the world.

“Okay, fine. I’ll answer one question. Choose wisely.”

“What? Why just one question?”

“Was that your question?”

“No, you moron. God, you’re so —“ Luis trailed off, unable to think of the word that perfectly summed up this aggravatingly beautiful demon.

Adrian laughed. “You should probably get home before you freeze to death. You’ve still got six months left. I’d have done a terrible job if it happened now.”

“Can you please stop making jokes about my death?” Luis was uncomfortable. He’d never thought about his own death much, and he didn’t really want to start. Plus, he still wasn’t completely sure if he even believed him.

“Okay, sorry,” Adrian said, still laughing a little, not sounding the least bit sorry. Luis gave him another glare and started on his walk home. It was about a twenty-five minute walk back to his apartment on W 57th and 10th. There were so many thoughts racing through Luis’s head, and not a single one of them made any sense. It wasn’t until he was walking back through his front door that he realized he hadn’t even finished the computer engineering assignment, which was due the next day.

He groaned loudly as he sulked towards his room, Adrian silently following the whole way. He heard Kaiya shout out to him as he passed her bedroom, but he just grumbled out an, “I’m fine,” and went into his room.

He plopped down face-first on the bed. He felt Adrian lay down beside him.

“You’re not actually going to stay there, are you?” Luis mumbled, almost inaudibly, as his face was buried in the sheets.

“I mean, yeah?” Adrian said in a “no duh” sort of tone that really irked Luis.

“No, you’re not. This is my bed. I’ve tolerated you enough for today. The least you could do is leave me alone while I sleep.” Luis picked his head up to glare at Adrian once more.

“Aw, you mean you don’t want me to invade your dreams and wake you up with night terrors?” Adrian fake pouted, and Luis was never a violent guy, but God, did he really want to punch the pout right off of his face. Or maybe kiss it off. Jesus Christ, why did he just think that? 

Adrian smirked like he knew exactly what Luis had just thought. He probably did, Luis thought to himself, which made him groan again, which then made Adrian laugh again. The two had seemed to form some sort of stupid buddy cop dynamic, and that thought made Luis a bit sick to his stomach if he’s honest.

“Whatever, I’m going to sleep. You can fuck off now,” Luis sat up enough to pull the sheets over his body, and he turned his body away so his back was facing Adrian. He stared at the wall for what seemed like hours. His body was exhausted, but his mind was still going a mile a minute. 

Demons were real. That means that angels are real, and God and the Devil, too. Or maybe demons are the only things that exist in the afterlife and all humans go to Hell because of some eternal damnation, blah, blah, blah… And was Luis really go ing to die in six months? How? Why? Why was he being put under the watch of a demon? What had he done that justified going to Hell? Sure, maybe he cheated on a few tests in high school, and he had tended to be a ball hog back when he played soccer several years ago, but those things hardly constituted burning alive for eternity. And what made Adrian so special that he got to leave Hell and come back to Earth for a while? 

Luis’s mind wouldn’t shut up. He wanted to cry at the thought of being stuck with Adrian for the next six months and him not even answering any of his questions. With the last thought on his mind being his unfinished computer engineering assignment, Luis fell asleep, Adrian still lying quietly by his side.


	2. Chapter 2

Luis woke up the next morning with a dull ache in his head. He’d left his blinds open all night, so the sunlight coming through the window blinded him when he opened his eyes. He rolled over onto his back and rubbed his eyes, shivering slightly from the cold. He glanced over at the clock. The time read 8:17 a.m. He had his computer engineering class at 10, and he was definitely not looking forward to it.

He laid in bed for a few minutes, eyes closed, trying to get his mind to wake up. He groaned, thinking about the assignment he never finished. He was usually a studious student, always doing his work, sometimes even turning it in early. But he was so distracted yesterday…

Luis’s eyes shot open. The demon. It had to have been a dream. He must’ve blacked out or something after studying all day, and all of the fears he had about failing in school manifested into some annoying man-demon-thing that followed him around. Luis glanced over to the other side of the bed, remembering how the demon hadn’t left before he’d fallen asleep last night. There was no one there.

He wasn’t crazy. He had just been mentally exhausted yesterday. And maybe he was also a little lonely, and that’s why the imaginary symbolic demon thing was so attractive. Luis was not crazy.

Luis exhaled a sigh of relief, rubbing his eyes again. Then he heard his bedroom door open. Luis held his breath and prayed for the first time in his entire life, still keeping his hands over his eyes. ‘Please be Kaiya, please be Kaiya,’ he chanted in his head.

“Oh, hey, you’re up,” spoke the deep voice that Luis had come to hate more than anything in the world. When Luis groaned loudly, Adrian simply laughed. He seemed to do that a lot. It was only 8 in the morning and Luis was already seething.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Luis whispered to himself. But Adrian heard, and so he laughed again, louder that time.

“You mean, you’re not happy to see me?” Adrian joked. Luis still had his hands covering his face, but he could hear the amusement in Adrian’s voice.

“I am really, really not in the mood for this today. Can you go haunt someone else for a while?” Luis grumbled, finally removing his hands and turning his head to look at Adrian. He looked the exact same as he did yesterday, though Luis isn’t sure why he expected anything to change. God, why did he have to be so beautiful? ‘He’s objectively attractive,’ Luis thought to himself. 'It’s not like I’m actually attracted to him at all. He’s just nice to look at. And why the hell am I thinking about this again?’

Adrian smirked at him, and Luis was convinced that the demon could read his mind or something. Irritated, Luis threw the pillow that he wasn’t using at Adrian, but it went right through him. Luis almost cried. This guy was impossible.

“I’m not a ghost, you know,” Adrian said, ever-present smile still on his face.

“What?” Luis asked, confused and already exasperated.

“I can’t ‘haunt’ people. I’m not a ghost. I’m a demon. There’s a difference.”

“I really don’t care. They’re basically the same thing.” Luis reluctantly moved to get out of bed, swinging his legs over the side and planting his feet on the floor.

The floor turned black, and so did all of the walls and ceiling. It was a black darker than any he’d ever seen. He could feel every sin and all of the misery of every human that had ever lived inside his chest. He tried to look around, but it was so dark that he couldn’t tell what direction he was facing, if he was looking up or down or left or right. He couldn’t feel anything but a bitter, aching cold running through his veins that, at the same time, felt like a scalding heat, burning his skin. He tried to scream, but no noise came out of his mouth. 

In the blink of an eye, everything went back to the way it was. He was still sitting on his bed, and the walls were their normal tan color. His feet were resting on the white carpet. It was like nothing had even happened, like Luis wasn’t just completely traumatized. He looked up at Adrian, who was leaning back against the bedroom door and smirking.

“You’re not gonna see that shit on Ghost Adventures,” Adrian bragged, and Luis charged towards him, punching his chest over and over again.

But Adrian made no motion to stop him, nor did he make any acknowledgement that it hurt him in any way. Because, why would it?

“I hate you so much,” Luis cried out with a final shove to Adrian’s chest. “Can you at least pretend like that hurt or something? Can you not make this as awful as possible if you really plan on bothering me for the next six months?” 

“Was that production not enough to show you what I am? I’m a demon! I’m not here to play nice. This is the first time I’ve been back on Earth since I died, and I’m stuck with you — a boring, onerous nerd who can’t even take a joke, trapped in a mediocre and mundane life.”

Luis paused for a second. “Okay. I don’t know how long you’ve been dead, but ‘nerd’ isn’t an insult anymore. So that didn’t even hurt my feelings like you thought it would,” Luis laughed to add to the effect of his words, but if he’s honest, his feelings were a little hurt. He wasn’t boring. He just preferred studying to socializing, and all of the studying didn’t allow time for useless hobbies. He liked having a routine. How was he supposed to prepare for unexpected things popping up at every turn? Unexpected things like a demon showing up in the middle of his room telling him he’s going to die in six months… God, what was happening to his life? 

Adrian just shook his head. It was hard to tell if he was genuinely upset or not at the thought of being stuck with Luis. 

“All right, look, we got off on the wrong foot,” Adrian started.

“You think?” Luis retorted back.

“Can you not be insufferable for two seconds? It was cute at first, but now it’s starting to get on my nerves —“

“I’m being insufferable? Are you kidding? You’re the most annoying person I’ve ever met. And what the hell was that — what did you call it, a production? — whatever the hell you wanna call it — what was that all about? I cannot believe —“

“Okay, okay, relax, all right? Let’s just start over and pretend like the last 13 hours never happened, yeah?” Adrian raised an eyebrow and made a ‘settle down’ motion with his hands.

“Just forget — no! I can’t just forget that the last few hours didn’t happen!” Luis fired up, and he ranted even more, not paying attention to what he was saying anymore. He voiced all of his frustrations, some of them not even about Adrian.

Adrian just blinked at him.

Luis stopped talking, and the two men stared at each other, standing a foot apart. Luis knew the demon was tall, but being this close to him, he saw just how much taller than Luis he really was. Adrian seemed to stand at 6’3, towering over Luis’s 5’9 frame. 

Luis let out a long sigh, which made Adrian roll his eyes. But Luis did feel a little better. Even if the demon wasn’t listening, at least Luis got all of his crazy thoughts out of his head. He wondered if that was what therapy felt like. He also wondered if maybe he needed therapy.

“Have you said everything you wanted to say?” Adrian asked. There wasn’t any noticeable irritation in his voice, just a genuine question.

“For now,” Luis stated, his arms crossed firmly in front of his chest.

“Will you listen to me now?”

Luis paused briefly. “I’ll humor you.”

“Okay. I realize that maybe materializing in the middle of your room and notifying you of your impending death without any warning may have freaked you out a little.”

Luis opened his mouth to say something, but Adrian reached out and pinched his lips closed with his fingers. “Let me finish. Please.” He muttered the last word. He let go of Luis’s lips and started again.

“But I’m just doing my job. I’ll try to be less antagonizing. I’m not making any promises, though. But I will try.” Adrian sounded genuine, like he was finally starting to hear Luis’s desperate pleading. But he was a demon, so how sincere could he really be?

“Okay,” Luis said after a moment. “Thank you,” he added on at the end. The demon had been nothing but rude to him, but he still had manners.

“Just apologize for hitting me, and we’ll start over,” Adrian added.

“Apologize? Why don’t you —“ Luis started to ramp up again, but then his bedroom door opened. Kaiya stood in the doorway, staring at Luis with wide eyes. 

“Um, Luis? Who the hell are you talking to?” She asked, concern prevalent in her voice.

And Luis was tired and a little dumb, so the only thing he could think to say was, “Uh, no one.” Kaiya didn’t buy this, of course.

“Are you okay? Like, seriously. I chalked up your weird behavior yesterday to mental stress, but I figured a good night’s sleep would fix it. But I just finished getting ready and I heard you yelling in your bedroom only to find you actually yelling at… no one?” Kaiya had been Luis’s best friend since the beginning of their freshman year of college, three years ago, and she knew him better than anyone. He was acting strange, and the fact that he was lying to her about what was going on worried her even more.

“Kay…” Luis started to say, not knowing how to explain what was going on. He glanced over to Adrian for help, but Adrian just shrugged and disappeared. He vanished into thin air, and the sight didn’t shock Luis as much as it would’ve 24 hours ago.

“Kay, it’s complicated. But I’m fine, I promise. Don’t worry about me,” Luis said, hoping it sounded more truthful than it actually was.

“Luis, you’re my best friend. It’s my job to worry about you,” Kaiya smiled at him, but there was still concern in her eyes.

Luis sighed. He really could tell her anything. She’d never judged him before, not even when he came out to her a few months after they’d met, after her futile attempt to set him up with one of her friends.

“You’re going to think I’m crazy,” Luis mumbled. Was he really about to tell her? Thank God Adrian wasn’t around, or he’d probably get upset, or just make fun of him. Those seemed to be his only two moods.

“I already think you’re crazy,” Kaiya said and laughed. Luis smiled, too.

“Okay, I don’t really know where to start —“ Luis began, but he was interrupted by the alarm on his phone going off. It was 9 a.m., and he needed to start getting ready for his class.

“Oh, shit. I’m sorry, Kay. I have class,” he said, sounding apologetic, but he was secretly very glad he didn’t have to try to explain the fact that he’d been talking to his own personal demon. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he definitely couldn’t tell her. She’d tell his parents, and then they’d put him in a psych ward or something, and Luis really wanted to graduate before anything like that happened.

“But —“ Kaiya started to say, watching Luis grab some clothes from his dresser and head over towards his bathroom door.

“I’ll tell you later, I promise!” He shouted before walking into the bathroom and closing the door. He heard Kaiya groan loudly, but he just shook his head and went to turn the shower on.

════════

Once he was in the shower, Luis exhaled deeply. He stood there for a while, letting the hot water run over his body. Showers were really underrated, he thought to himself. It was like the steam cleared his mind. He began washing his hair, washing his body, cleansing himself of all stress.

“Yo,” came the voice of Adrian from the other side of the shower curtain.

Luis jumped and dropped the bottle of soap he was holding, letting out a weird noise that sounded like a combination of a choked yelp and a gasp. He heard Adrian laugh, and Luis honestly wanted to cry.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” Adrian said, still laughing.

“Get the fuck out!” Luis yelled once he’d recovered. Then he remembered that he probably shouldn’t be yelling, lest Kaiya hear him and check him into a psych ward herself.

“Relax, I can’t see you. I just wanted to know how it went with your friend,” Adrian said. Luis could barely make out his silhouette through the curtain. He looked to be leaning up against the counter.

“No, get out. I’ll tell you when I’m done,” Luis said through gritted teeth. God, he really hated this man. Did he have no boundaries?

“Ugh, you’re no fun,” Adrian mumbled, but he did push himself off of the counter and exit through the bathroom door.

Luis took a few minutes to recover, his heart still racing from the sudden appearance. There was something seriously wrong with that guy. What had he even done to be sent to Hell? Luis’s mind ran through numerous possibilities, ranging from murder to public indecency. He decided that he didn’t actually want to know, since he’d be spending the next few months with him. Ignorance is bliss, after all.

Luis turned off the water and peeked around the shower curtain to make sure Adrian was actually gone, before stepping out and drying off.

“Hey, are you done now? I heard the water shut off,” Adrian said from the other side of the door.

“No, I’m not done! Jesus, you’re so needy,” Luis grumbled. Adrian just chuckled.

Luis quickly got dressed. The last thing he needed was Adrian walking in on him while he was naked. His cheeks got hot at that image, but he didn’t know if it was from embarrassment or… and he definitely didn’t want to finish that thought. He put his shirt on backwards the first time around because he was so flustered.

He checked himself in the mirror: he saw the few freckles he had sparsely splattered across his tawny brown skin, and dark brown eyes that he’d never really liked that much. His long, curly black hair that reached just below his shoulders was still dripping a little. He looked all right, he thought, even if the bags under his eyes were a little darker than usual.

He sighed deeply and walked out of the bathroom door. Adrian was sitting at his desk, looking through some of Luis’s college papers.

“Are you seriously going through my stuff?” Luis was irritated again. It was like the shower didn’t do anything to calm him.

“It’s just college stuff. It’s not like it’s your diary or anything. Do you have a diary, by the way?” Adrian said, smiling like he always did. Luis wanted to hit him again. When did he become so violent?

“No, I don’t have a diary. And even if I did, you’re the last person I’d show it to. Also, it’s still rude to go through someone’s stuff, even if it’s unimportant things like college assignments,” Luis said hurriedly. He checked the clock on his beside table and saw it was already 9:45. His class building was only a five minute walk away, but he still had to eat. He never got a chance to eat dinner last night, since he was a little preoccupied.

“I’m a demon. Do you think I care about being rude?” Adrian laughed and watched Luis frantically grab his shoes and messenger bag.

“You weren’t always a demon though, were you? Were you this rude as a human? Oh, maybe you were and that’s why you went to Hell.” Luis said the last part more to himself, but Adrian definitely heard him. He gave Luis an unreadable look. He was silent after that.

Luis walked into the kitchen and quickly fixed a small bowl of cereal. Kaiya had already left for her only class of the day, but Luis wasn’t alone like he normally would be. Adrian had followed him to the kitchen.

This time, instead of sitting down silently next to Luis, Adrian took it upon himself to open every single cabinet and drawer in the room, leaving each one ajar. Luis watched him do it, seething over his cereal. He didn’t have time to argue with him, but he would definitely scold him for it later.

Once he finished, he got up, grabbed his bag, and walked hastily out of the front door, Adrian on his heels. The two men were silent all the way down to the lobby, though Adrian kept glancing over at Luis from time to time.

They were about halfway to Luis’s classroom when Luis said bitingly, “Are you gonna sit in class with me, too?”

“That depends. What class is it?” Adrian asked, sounding genuinely curious. 

Luis was a little put off by the tone of his voice, but he hesitantly answered, “Software Testing and Quality Assurance.”

Adrian laughed. “No, that sounds lame.”

Luis rolled his eyes and huffed, walking even faster than he already was, hoping to lose Adrian. But Adrian kept up with his pace.

“Hey, I was just kidding. That’s… cool, I guess, if you’re into that stuff. I knew you were a nerd,” Adrian said, putting his hands in his jean pockets. There was someone coming straight towards him on the sidewalk, but he walked right through them.

“I already told you, being a ‘nerd’ isn’t a bad thing anymore,” was the only response Luis had.

“I didn’t say it was a bad thing. I just said you were one.” Adrian looked at Luis with that stupid closed-mouthed grin of his.

“You made it sound like a bad thing earlier,” Luis muttered. They had arrived at his class building, so he walked inside. He turned to look back when he didn’t feel Adrian beside him, but Adrian was gone. Luis felt a little relieved, and a little disconcerted by his sudden disappearance. He guessed he was going to have to get used to that.

Luis then realized that he probably shouldn’t have been talking to Adrian at all when they were walking down the street together. Then again, New York City had seen crazier things.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Spanish is Google Translated, so I'm sure it's not accurate. I don't speak any Spanish, but I felt like it was kind of necessary to the story. Feel free to correct it if you do actually know Spanish and I'll change it! The translated words are in the end notes.

Luis’s class finally finished at noon. It was a Friday, and he had the rest of the day off and the weekend to relax. His professor was disappointed in him for not submitting his research assignment, but Luis’s grade wouldn’t suffer too much because of it since he was normally a diligent student. There was only one more week left in the semester, the next week being finals week. Luis would call it impending Hell on Earth if he didn’t feel like he was already there, considering he was being tormented by a literal demon.

Luis felt exhausted as he trudged back to his apartment. Adrian was still nowhere to be seen. On his walk back, Luis passed the quaint little coffee shop where Kaiya worked, nestled in-between various other small businesses that lined the buys streets of New York City. He figured he should stop in and say hello to show her he still had a little bit of his sanity left.

He opened the iron doors and the smell of baked goods and mocha soothed him instantly. He saw Kaiya working at the register, and she gave him a large smile when she noticed him enter.

“Hey, how was your class?” She asked, the pep she usually had returning to her voice. She’d been so worried about Luis recently, it was nice to hear her happy again.

“You’re not going to take my order first?” Luis joked, to which Kaiya rolled her eyes. There weren’t very many people in the room. This was exactly Luis’s scene — a quiet and cozy coffeehouse with little to no people, just his best friend and no demons in sight.

“You want your usual?” Kaiya asked, already starting to make his order, just a regular coffee with regular sugar.

“Duh,” Luis responded humorously. He watched her fix it quickly. She’d done it a million times by that point; she could probably do it with her eyes closed.

“Hey, this one’s on me,” Kaiya said with sincerity as she handed over this drink. Luis went to protest, but Kaiya cut him off. 

“You seem like you could really use this. Finals are coming up next week. I’m sure that has something to do with the way you’re acting. Just… take this, and try to relax, for both of our sakes, okay?” 

Luis gently grabbed the drink from her hand and sighed, and he gave her a genuine smile. “What would I do without you, Kay?”

“You don’t even want to know,” Kaiya laughed and rang up his order, paying for it herself, Luis assumed. She really was the best friend anyone could ever have. Luis hoped he was at least half as caring and steadfast as she was.

“Thank you, seriously,” Luis said to her. She waved his gratitude off humbly, and Luis went to sit down at one of the tables near the back of the store. The exposed red brick and hanging ceiling plants added to the typical, hipster New York City aesthetic, but Luis loved it all the same. He’d grown up in some small town in New Hampshire but had always dreamed of moving to a big city, and what city was better than New York? His parents were reluctant to let him leave, but ultimately complied and let him go, albeit hesitantly. He’d applied to NYU and got in with the help of a merit scholarship, but a scholarship could only aid so much when going to such an expensive school. Only time would tell if the money spent would be worth it. Well, Luis hoped he would live to see it pay off.

He hadn’t thought much more about the six-month death sentence he’d received. He was almost completely convinced that Adrian was an actual demon and not a figment of his imagination. He’d have to wait until finals were over to finalize his decision. If it was true that Adrian was in fact a real demon, then it had to be true that he was going to die, didn’t it? Why else would Adrian have said that? Unless the whole point of him being a demon was to fuck with Luis’s head and make him miserable, at which he was already succeeding. But then, what had Luis done that warranted all of that? He didn’t do anything bad. Maybe he wasn’t the best person in the world — that award would go to Kaiya, in his opinion — but he wasn’t awful.

His mind was going a mile a minute again as he sat drinking his coffee, watching Kaiya help the few customers that came in every now and then. Where was Adrian anyway? Luis had more questions to ask him, not that they’d even be answered.

Luis finished his coffee and got up to leave. He said goodbye to Kaiya and promised to make them dinner that night. He couldn’t cook to save his life, and Kaiya knew that, but she appreciated the thought. She decided that she’d pick up some take-out on her way home from work.

════════

Luis arrived back home. When he walked into the apartment, he saw that the cabinets and drawers were still open from earlier that morning. He angrily shut all of them before going into his room and throwing his messenger bag on his desk chair. He laid down supine on his bed. He really thought he should start studying as much as possible for next week, but his brain was so overworked, he didn’t think it would benefit him at all.

He decided to call his mom. He liked to talk to his parents, and his younger sister, every few days, just to update them and see how they were doing. He definitely wasn’t going to tell them about Adrian, but he felt like unloading all of his university tensions would make him feel better.

The phone rang only two times before his mother picked up.

“Luis! You finally called! I was getting so worried, I haven’t heard from you in so long —“ his mother fussed over the phone.

“Mamá, it’s been three days,” Luis groaned, pretending to sound annoyed, but he had a huge smile on his face. This was exactly what he needed: to hear his mother’s voice.

“Three days feels like toda una vida when I don’t hear from you.” He could hear the smile in this mom’s voice. “How are you, cariño?”

Luis thought for a second about how to word the way he was feeling. “Stressed,” he finally said. “Finals are next week.”

“Oh, miel, you will do amazing, I know you will. You are the más inteligente man I have ever known,” his mom cooed.

“Mom…” Luis flushed, embarrassed by the praise, and groaned, the smile still present on his face. The two started laughing, and Luis felt completely at ease for the first time in a while.

“I miss you,” Luis said after a second. He really was a family man through and through, no matter how disgruntled he acted.

“I know, yo también te extraño, siempre,” his mother said. Luis teared up. He really needed to visit his family again. He hadn’t seen them since the end of summer, right before he left for his final year at college. He hadn’t made plans to go back during holiday break yet, as he never had time to make them. He hadn’t gone back during the break in the previous years either, opting to stay on campus and work some odd jobs to pay rent and save up money for after college. But he definitely needed to see them again soon.

“I’ll come back for Christmas this year, Mamá,” Luis stated.

“Oh, cariño! Arreglaré tu cama right now,” his mother said, her excitement prevalent. He could see her face clearly in his mind, the wrinkles on her forehead disappearing when she smiled widely, her ever-present smile lines deepening, and her caramel-colored eyes shining brightly.

“Mom, it won’t be for another week, at least. You can relax for now,” Luis chuckled.

“No, it will be nice and ready for cuando regreses, sin discutir,” she stated sternly, but with joy still in her voice.

“Okay, fine,” Luis laughed. “I’ll try to drive up the Saturday after my last day. Does that sound okay?”

“Perfecto, miel,” she said, and Luis felt more at peace than he had since he left four months ago.

“Tell Papá and Vanessa I said hey. Te quiero,” Luis said. Vanessa was his 17-year-old sister. The two got a long like any other siblings. Luis thought she was the most annoying person in the world (though she was now up against Adrian for that title), but he would do literally anything for her.

“I will. Yo también te quiero,” Luis’s mother said. The two said goodbye and hung up the phone.

Luis sighed deeply, placing his phone down next to him. He was still laying down on his bed and didn’t have plans to get up any time soon.

“That was cute,” came the deep voice of Adrian from the corner of Luis’s bedroom. Luis jumped, a thing he seemed to be doing a lot more often. He glared at Adrian, who leaned up against the window. That bothered Luis more than it probably should’ve.

“What the hell? How long have you been here? Were you listening to my conversation?” And just like that, Luis was angry again. This demon had some nerve.

“I just heard the end of it. ‘Te quiero’… that’s Spanish, right?” Adrian said nonchalantly. He strolled around Luis’s room again, looking at the various papers and knick-knacks. He seemed to really enjoy doing that.

“Yes, it’s Spanish. You really have no manners, do you? You can’t just eavesdrop on people!” Luis had sat up by that point, still glaring at Adrian.

“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. I just showed up and I didn’t know you were going to be on the phone. Not my fault you didn’t notice me,” Adrian said smugly. He moved Luis’s messenger bag from the desk chair onto the floor and sat down, spinning the chair to face Luis on his bed.

Luis just rolled his eyes and groaned, aggravated. He checked the time on his phone. It was close to 2:30. Kaiya would get home at 4, so Luis didn’t have an excuse to start making dinner yet. He thought he should start studying like he was initially going to before the phone call, but he knew that Adrian would just bother him and he wouldn’t actually get anything done.

“So you speak Spanish, then?” Adrian asked curiously. But whether he was genuinely curious or he was just setting up some sort of joke, Luis couldn’t tell.

“Obviously,” Luis muttered and got up. He stepped forward to grab his messenger bag that held his books and notes but stopped when he realized it was at the base of Adrian’s feet. He didn’t want to go anywhere near the demon, so he just stood up and crossed his arms.

“Can you hand me my bag,” Luis stated, but it wasn’t a question.

Adrian tilted his head a little to the side and stared at Luis with his stupid closed-mouthed grin, seemingly trying to think of a snarky response.

“You have two working legs. You can come get it yourself.” Adrian full-on smirked.

“No thanks, I don’t want to be near you,” Luis spat with as much anger as he could muster, but as Adrian had mentioned earlier, Luis wasn’t very intimidating.

“Aw, I don’t bite. Unless you want me to,” Adrian raised both of his eyebrows and chuckled.

Luis scoffed. “You’re disgusting.”

Adrian just laughed some more, but he also leaned down to pick up the bag. He placed it in his lap and stared at Luis, smiling, waiting for him to make the next move.

“Can I have my bag,” Luis said, more impatient this time, refusing to play Adrian’s game. Sure, maybe he was being a little childish, but Luis was stubborn if nothing else.

“What’s the magic word?” Adrian toyed with him.

Luis rolled his eyes and grunted out a ‘please’.

Adrian laughed at his pathetic attempt to be nice to him, but he tossed the bag over at Luis, who just barely caught it, fumbling with the strings. He hadn’t been expecting Adrian to actually give it up, and though he may have played soccer for years, he lacked hand-eye coordination.

“Smooth,” Adrian snickered. Luis shot him another glare and went to sit back down on his bed. He took his textbook and notes out for his Software Testing class he’d had earlier, prepared to read over them until his eyes glazed over.

Adrian stayed quiet, eyes browsing various things in Luis’s room: the lava lamp on his desk, the pile of folded laundry on the floor, a small Mexican flag on the wall, Luis himself.

Luis thought about how similar, yet different, things were compared to yesterday. Thursday, he’d gone to his two classes in the morning. After they’d finished, he walked back to his apartment and went straight to his bedroom. He’d started his homework right when he’d sat down, and that’s what he did until a demon emerged in his room.

Friday, he’d gone to class, walked back to his apartment, went to his bedroom, and did more schoolwork. He had a routine, and it never used to bothered Luis. But since the appearance of the demon, he found himself growing bored with studying. It was like Adrian — however obnoxious — instituted some change in Luis’s life that he didn’t realize he needed.

Despite this sudden mid-life crisis Luis seemed to be having, he continued to work, though he snuck glances at Adrian every few minutes. The demon was still quiet, and Luis was surprised he was actually letting him work. He wanted to voice that thought but decided he didn’t want to rock the boat. He was slowly catching onto Adrian’s plot. If Luis just didn’t respond, Adrian couldn’t get pleasure out of toying with him and making him angrier.

════════

An hour passed before Luis couldn’t take in any more information. He still had the whole weekend to study, so he closed his books and folded his notes, putting them back in the messenger bag.

“Why don’t you use your laptop or something instead of handwritten notes?” Adrian said. The voice startled Luis, as per usual. The room had been so quiet.

“It’s easier for me to learn if I’m writing down the notes myself,” Luis said.

“Oh,” Adrian said, and that was the end of the conversation. 

‘That was the most normal exchange we’ve had,’ Luis thought to himself. ‘That was super weird,’ he also thought.

The energy in the room was different. There was less hostility than there had been since the moment Adrian had arrived. Luis felt a weird balance between over-stressed and resignation. He was getting pretty hungry, so he decided to text Kaiya and ask her what she wanted for dinner, secretly hoping she wouldn’t actually want him to cook dinner. He would do it if she wanted, but it would just be miserable for both of them.

Kaiya responded with a quick text saying she would pick up something from Wendy’s on her way home. Luis thanked the maybe-not-so-imaginary God.

Adrian and Luis sat in the room in silence for a few minutes, the two thinking about different things. A thought made its way to the front of Luis’s mind.

“Do you eat?” He blurted out before he could stop himself.

Adrian let out a brief chuckle, surprised by Luis’s outburst.

“No, why would I? I’m already dead,” Adrian said.

“Yeah, I probably could’ve guessed that,” Luis muttered quietly, but Adrian heard and chuckled some more.

“Can you stop laughing so much? It’s annoying,” Luis said with no real anger behind it. He was so tired of fighting, but he got upset so easily as of late. Adrian had to have some sort of demonic aura that affected everything around him.

“You don’t want me to be happy? That’s kind of mean,” Adrian said, smiling. And whatever unspoken truce they previously had was gone.

“Not if it’s at my expense!” Luis said heatedly.

“You say dumb things. It’s not my fault,” Adrian said pointedly, and the look in his eyes said he wanted Luis to get angry. Luis wasn’t going to let him win.

“No, I’m not doing this,” he said. He picked up his phone and absentmindedly scrolled through various apps so he could pretend to be unbothered, even though he was very much bothered.

“Not doing what?” Adrian snickered.

“This… game that you’re playing,” Luis said, hoping it came out as offhandedly as he wanted it to.

“What game?” Adrian got up from the desk chair and went over to Luis’s bed. Luis watched him cautiously as he sat down next to Luis, swinging his legs up and laying his head down on one of the pillows.

“This game. What the hell are you doing? Have you never heard of personal space? You can’t just lay on my bed without my —“ and Luis had lost the game again. He groaned loudly and threw his phone on the sheets before sitting up and jumping out of the bed angrily.

“I thought you said you were going to try to not be antagonizing. This is the exact opposite of that!” Luis shouted and waved his arms around animatedly. He really hoped Kaiya wasn’t home yet, even though she would be any minute.

“I said I would try. I didn’t say I would succeed. I’ve been a demon for a while. It’s in my nature to be terrible.” Adrian sat up from his supine position but still stayed on the bed. Maybe he was afraid that Luis would hit him again if he got too close, Luis silently hoped.

“How long have you been a demon?” Luis’s curiosity got the better of him as he ignored the other things Adrian had said.

“Well, only five years. So it’s not that long compared to some demons I know, but when you’re in Hell, everything feels a lot longer,” Adrian responded genuinely.

Luis didn’t know what to do with that information, so he lamely said, “Cool,” and walked out of his bedroom towards the kitchen. He missed Adrian’s bewildered look at Luis’s response. 

Just as Luis walked in the kitchen, Kaiya walked through the front door holding two Wendy’s bags and her backpack across her back. Luis went over to help her carry the stuff in and the two exchanged greetings.

“Thank you for this. I really didn’t want to cook,” Luis admitted and smiled. He started taking the food out of the bags. Adrian hadn’t followed him into the kitchen, which he was grateful for. Maybe he realized that making Luis look crazy in front of his friend would hurt his plan in some way.

“I wasn’t going to let you cook for me, Luis. No offense,” Kaiya laughed and walked down the hallway, presumably to put away her bag and clean up after her long day.

Luis dug into his food, not realizing just how hungry he was. He didn’t usually eat much, but he’d only had a bowl of cereal in the last 24 hours. That’s not good for anyone. ‘Maybe that’s how Adrian wants to kill me,’ Luis thought. ‘He’s doing a pretty damn good job of distracting me.’

And, almost like he could hear Luis’s thoughts, Adrian appeared in the seat next to Luis, making him drop the fry he was holding out of fright.

“Jesus, can you please stop doing that?” Luis hissed.

“Doing what?” Adrian mockingly retorted, but before Luis could respond, Kaiya walked back in, looking a little fresher after a change of clothes.

Luis bit his tongue and tried his best to ignore Adrian as Luis and Kaiya talked over their dinner. Every now and then when Kaiya wasn’t looking, Adrian would take a fry from Luis’s plate and place it on the counter, just to annoy him. Luis seethed silently, picking each fry back up and putting it back on his plate, only to have it removed again a few moments later. Adrian chuckled the whole time, pleased with himself.

Luis and Kaiya finished their dinners and continued their random conversations. Kaiya looked happy to see that Luis was acting normal again (well, he wasn’t shouting at the air anymore, and that seemed like a good sign to her).

It was approaching 6 p.m. and Kaiya got up, announcing that she needed to go take a shower. He watched her walk away, her springy coils of hair bouncing as she walked. 

“Are you guys dating?” Adrian asked after a brief lapse of silence, one that Luis had been savoring.

“God, no. She’s just my best friend,” Luis stated. He was pretty used to that question. He and Kaiya had both gotten it several times whenever she would drag him along to hang out with new people (which started happening less and less often as she saw how uncomfortable Luis got.)

“So you’re single then?” Adrian questioned. Luis couldn’t read the tone of his voice, but he was confused, not by the question but by why Adrian was even asking.

“Yeah. Does it matter?” Luis asked. It came out more bitter than he intended.

“No, I was just wondering. You don’t really seem like the relationship type anyway,” Adrian said casually. And, of course, Luis made a big deal out of it.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He sassed.

“Hey, relax. I didn’t mean anything bad by it. You just don’t seem like a people-person.” Adrian held up his hands in mock surrender.

“I’m not a demon-person either,” Luis muttered lamely, and even he was embarrassed by the poor comeback.

Adrian just laughed.

“I’m going to bed,” Luis mumbled and got up from the barstool.

“It’s only 6,” Adrian called out to his back. Luis flipped him off and kept walking towards his bedroom, Adrian’s laughter following him.

He laid down on his bed and debated doing more studying. Adrian entered through the bedroom door a few minutes later, and Luis was just happy he didn’t appear out of nowhere and scare him that time.

“Where did you go while I was in class?” Luis blurted out against his better judgment. He definitely didn’t enjoy talking to the demon, so why did he keep doing it?

“Back to Hell,” Adrian shrugged nonchalantly. He laid down next Luis, and Luis was so tired of arguing, so he didn’t say anything.

“You can… do that? Just pop back down to Hell whenever you want?” Luis questioned.

“Yeah. I kind of have to. I get called back every now and then to tell my higher-ups how it’s going.”

“So I’m like… a project to you?” Luis was a little disgusted at the thought of being some sideshow for a group of demons to watch.

“I guess you could put it like that. You’re more like an assignment, but that sounds worse,” Adrian chuffed, but there wasn’t any humor in his voice.

Luis was quiet for a moment. “This is so stupid.”

“What is?” Adrian turned his head briefly to glance at Luis before looking back up at the ceiling. Luis looked back. They hadn’t been this close before. Luis looked at Adrian’s features he hadn’t yet seen up close. He had long lashes, a broad nose, and there were four small freckles in the shape of a diamond on his left cheek, barely noticeable.

Adrian smirked when Luis didn’t respond at first, feeling Luis’s eyes studying his face. Luis turned his head back towards the ceiling and faked a cough, feeling his cheeks heat up at being caught staring. Hating this demon would be a lot easier if he wasn’t so beautiful. 

“All of this is stupid,” Luis finally said. “The whole being haunted by a demon thing —“

“I’m not haunting you.”

“And the fact that I’m apparently going to die in six months. And finals are also stupid,” Luis muttered.

“Yeah,” was all Adrian said.

There was a moment of silence.

“Did you go to college?” Luis asked. Why he was even trying to hold a conversation with this guy, he didn’t know. It always ended poorly.

“Yeah, for a few years. Never graduated, though,” Adrian said, sounding a little uncomfortable. Luis noticed that Adrian never really liked to talk about when he was alive. He really should’ve left the conversation there, but Luis was inquisitive and headstrong — a bad combination.

“Why not?”

“Because,” Adrian answered curtly.

“Because, why?” Luis pressed on. He felt his left arm get hot from where it was close, but not touching, Adrian’s right arm.

“Because. I’m done talking about this,” Adrian stated, and if Luis wasn’t dumb, that would’ve been where he ended it.

But Luis gained some weird sense of confidence knowing that he could make Adrian angry, just like he’d been doing to him since they met.

“Why won’t you tell me anything? It’s the least you could do if you’re going to harass me for six months. At least tell me what college you went to —“

“Stop!” Adrian shouted. He sat up so fast, Luis barely even saw him move. Adrian whipped his head in Luis’s direction. Luis sat up, too, shocked by the intense outburst.

He looked into Adrian’s eyes, or what used to be his eyes. They had gone completely black: black iris, black sclera, black everything. It was the same black that Adrian had shown him before, the one that felt never-ending. Luis wanted to look away, but he held his gaze. He was captivated.

The two men stared at each other for what felt like hours to Luis. Adrian seemed to snap out of whatever state he was in and shook his head. He abruptly jumped off of the bed and vanished into thin air.

Luis was confused, to say the least. But he just laid back down on his bed and closed his eyes, hoping he would get back some sense of normalcy soon, even if it meant getting used to Adrian being around and that becoming his new normal. He just wanted to feel at ease again, something he hadn’t felt in a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spanish Translations:
> 
> toda una vida • a lifetime  
> cariño • sweetie  
> miel • honey  
> más inteligente • smartest  
> yo también te extraño, siempre • i miss you, too, always  
> arreglaré tu cama • i will fix your bed  
> cuando regreses, sin discutir • when you come back, no arguing  
> perfecto • perfect  
> te quiero • i love you  
> yo también te quiero • i love you, too


	4. Chapter 4

The rest of the night went by like it used to before Adrian showed up in Luis’s life. After replaying what happened over and over in his head for an hour, Luis decided to get out of bed and watch a movie in the living room with Kaiya. He was able to fully immerse himself in the stupid Lifetime movie they were hate-watching. For that hour and a half, it was like Adrian never even existed.

But when Luis laid down to go to sleep that night, his mind was racing again. He couldn’t stop thinking about the same things he’d wondered since all of this — whatever this was — started: how was he going to die? Where was he going to die? What happened to Adrian to make him a demon? What the hell had Luis done to deserve any of this?

He was finally able to settle down and fall asleep. He woke up to his alarm the next morning. Of course he had an alarm set for weekends, too. He didn’t like to waste time, especially now that he had finals coming up.

Adrian wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Luis figured he probably went back to Hell to shake off whatever weird fury had overcome him the previous night. Luis thought about that night as he got ready for the day. Was that his true ‘demon form’ or something? Did he want to hurt Luis? Luis probably should’ve been afraid of him, but then again, as annoying as he was, Adrian had never seemed violent. In fact, Luis had been the one to hit him, something he never thought he’d be capable of. Luis was more confused than he’d been since their initial encounter.

After his shower and a quick breakfast with Kaiya, Luis isolated himself in his bedroom and threw himself into his studies. He poured over his notes and checked the various study sheets his professors had provided on his laptop. The day carried on just like that, and Adrian never showed up, though Luis wasn’t really surprised. He kind of hoped that Adrian would leave him alone permanently, but he figured he wouldn’t be that lucky.

Night quickly came, and Luis and Kaiya went out for dinner with a few of their other friends at some small restaurant near their apartment. Luis fell asleep quicker that night than he had the last few nights, though questions still floated across his mind.

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Sunday went by the same as Saturday, and Monday soon arrived. Luis didn’t have his exams until Thursday and Friday, but he still had to work harder than usual in the earlier weekday classes. He made it through his 10 a.m. class without having a mental breakdown, which he patted himself on the back for. He just had four more days to get through before he could see his family again. That thought is what kept him going. He only hoped Adrian would stay gone until winter break was over. The last thing he needed was for his family to overhear him talking to himself like Kaiya had.

════════

After his walk back home from his class, Luis wandered into his bedroom to find Adrian sitting on his bed leaning back on his hands and looking up at the ceiling. Luis groaned loudly, alerting Adrian to his presence.

“Miss me?” Adrian said cockily, throwing a wink in Luis’s direction. Luis childishly stuck his tongue out at him. 

“Hey, don’t tempt me, pup,” Adrian said with a chuckle. Luis couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not, and he didn’t know which option made him more sick.

“Fuck you,” Luis stated. He chucked his messenger bag on the floor harder than usual. He sat down in his desk chair and heard Adrian laugh.

“That’s sweet, but you’re not my type,” Adrian said, and Luis could hear the smugness in his voice. He was determined not to say anything back. He didn’t want to start another argument and end up feeling worse during finals week. He was stressed enough as it was, and he didn’t want to lose whatever resolve he had found during Adrian’s brief absence.

Seemingly put off by Luis’s lack of response, Adrian walked up behind Luis and started twirling a few strands of his hair between his fingers, to which Luis quickly pulled away and slapped his hand.

“Don’t touch my hair,” Luis hissed sharply.

Adrian raised his eyebrows and hands. “Okay, sorry, Jesus,” he muttered as he went to stand beside the desk chair instead of behind it.

“What are you doing?” Adrian asked, watching Luis pull out papers from his bag and place them on his desk.

Luis didn’t say anything. He was going to ignore Adrian, however difficult it may be. He started to study the notes he’d taken in his class that morning.

“Hey, did you hear me?” Adrian asked impatiently. He was staring at Luis and waiting for a response, but Luis wasn’t going to give in. He felt a slight smile grow on his face as he gave Adrian a taste of his own medicine.

But Adrian was a demon, and he knew exactly what to do to rile up Luis. He poked him in the cheek several times, but Luis grit his teeth and pretended like it wasn’t happening. He squeezed his highlighter so tightly in his fist that his knuckles turned white. Adrian definitely noticed that, but he didn’t say anything, and neither did Luis.

Adrian then pulled the highlighter out of Luis’s grasp as he was in the middle of writing with it. Luis turned to glare at him and sucked in a sharp breath, ready to yell at him. Adrian raised an eyebrow, daring Luis to say something. Luis narrowed his eyes at him before taking a deep breath and turning back to his notes. He picked up another highlighter from his pencil holder and started working again. Of course, Adrian plucked that one from his grasp, too. Luis squeezed both of his hands into fists. He wasn’t doing a very good job of pretending like Adrian wasn’t getting to him, but he was still determined not to say anything. He really was acting like a child, but Adrian was pushing his buttons, and Luis was so frustrated. He’d never met anyone like him before and he didn’t know how to handle it.

“Are you mad at me?” Adrian put on a fake-sad voice. Luis didn’t look at him, but he could see a fake pout on his face from his peripheral vision. He just rolled his eyes and continued studying. Luis almost felt bad for being so rude to him, but then he remembered all of the things Adrian had done and said to him, and his empathy vanished as soon as it came.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to leave you alone for so long. I would’ve come back sooner if I’d known you’d be so miserable without me,” Adrian said, still sounding pitiful.

“I wasn’t miserable without you!” Luis blurted out before he could stop himself. Adrian’s face lit up and he grinned widely at Luis, and Luis just rolled his eyes and scoffed. Of course Adrian would always have the upper hand. He said it himself — he was a demon and it was his job to be terrible.

“Aw, I missed your angry voice,” Adrian said in a cooing tone. He poked Luis gently on the nose and moved his finger away before Luis could swat at it.

“Shut the fuck up. I’m trying to work,” Luis muttered through gritted teeth.

“But it’s been a few days since we hung out. Now that you’re not mad at me anymore —“

“Those were the best few days of my life! And I am still mad at you! I’m always mad at you!” Luis shouted abruptly. This man made him so angry, it was unbelievable. He didn’t know how he was going to put up with this for another week, let alone six months.

“You’re cute,” Adrian said casually. He pinched Luis’s cheek for a quick second before walking over to the bed and sitting down.

Luis groaned loudly and spun around in his chair to face Adrian, ready to yell at him some more, but he stopped when he saw Adrian’s expectant face. Luis was not about to give him exactly what he wanted.

“Why are you hellbent on making this as difficult as possible for me?” Luis asked morosely, shaking his head.

“Because it’s fun, and this is going to be pretty boring otherwise,” Adrian stated matter-of-factly.

“Was it fun for you when I was asking you questions you didn’t like?” Luis spat snarkily. He saw Adrian’s eyes narrow slightly at the question. “Obviously not since you went full psycho-demon-mode and disappeared for three days.”

Adrian’s eyes darkened so briefly that Luis wasn’t really sure if it happened, but his signature closed-mouth smile quickly made its way back onto his face.

“That wasn’t even my final form,” Adrian said quietly, after a few seconds of the two silently staring at each other.

“You’re a moron,” was the only thing Luis could think to say.

“Hey, let’s make a compromise.” Adrian clapped his hands together stood up from the bed. Luis refused to feel intimidated by his full height.

Luis scoffed. “No thanks. I’m not making any deals with the Devil.”

“I’m not the Devil, though. Trust me, he’s way worse than I am.” Adrian barked out a laugh, but there was no humor in it.

“Wow, I can’t even imagine that,” Luis said sarcastically, making Adrian roll his eyes.

“I’m being serious. Let’s call a… ‘cease-fire’, we’ll call it.”

“Why should I trust anything you say?” Luis stood up from his chair and crossed his arms across his chest. He may have subconsciously puffed out his chest a little in an attempt to square up with Adrian. If Adrian noticed, he didn’t mention the pathetic attempt.

“At least hear me out,” Adrian said, not really pleading, like it didn’t really matter if Luis listened to him or not. Because, why would it? He’d proved over and over that he could always rile Luis up no matter how hard the latter tried to fight it.

“Fine,” Luis muttered angrily, already planning to refuse whatever the demon had to say.

“Okay,” Adrian said, not full expecting Luis to give in so quickly. He paused for a second before continuing: “If you promise to never ask about my life when I was alive, I’ll promise to not make you so angry all the time.”

“You promised me that same thing days ago and you didn’t follow through, so why would you now?” Luis wanted to scoff at the proposal.

“Because… you’ve seen how I get when that stuff is brought up. It’s… serious,” Adrian muttered, looking a little defeated for the first time since the two had met. He was avoiding eye contact with Luis. “I just — I really don’t like talking about it. And it’d be better for everyone if it was never brought up again. I won’t try to make you angry anymore. I’m not saying you’ll never get fed up with me, because you seem to do that even when I’m not trying.” Luis glared at Adrian, but there wasn’t much malice behind it.

“Let’s just… make a truce,” Adrian finished, and he reached out his hand towards Luis, offering a handshake.

Luis was hesitant to grab his hand. At the end of the day, the compromise wouldn’t really hurt anyone. Either Adrian actually follows through on his promise and makes the next six months easier on both of them, or he doesn’t and the two go right back to whatever dynamic they currently had. In other words, things really couldn’t get much worse.

So Luis rolled his eyes and grasped Adrian’s — much larger — hand in his, shaking it once before hastily letting go. It had been hot to the touch, like Adrian had just put his hand on a burning stovetop. Adrian laughed at Luis’s frantic detachment.

“So it’s a deal, then?” Adrian asked, smiling.

Luis sighed.

“It’s a deal.”


	5. Chapter 5

Finals week soon came to end, as did Luis’s last first semester of college. He hadn’t felt too confident with any of the tests, but he didn’t feel awful about them either, and that was good enough for him. The week was full of studying and Adrian being a constant nuisance, despite Adrian trying his best to not make Luis upset. Luis wanted to blame part of his inadequacy in testing on Adrian, but he figured that wouldn’t be completely fair. He’d never been very good at finals before, only good enough to not fail them.

The Saturday after his final class, Luis was awoken bright and early, around 7 a.m. according to his clock, by Adrian watching something on Luis’s phone, something Luis had never given him permission to do. Luis groaned and rubbed his eyes. He snatched his phone from Adrian’s hands.

“Hey, I was watching something!” Adrian protested.

“I don’t care,” Luis mumbled, causing Adrian to chuckle. Why did he have to find everything so funny?

Luis quickly texted his family’s group chat, telling them he’d leave for their house in an hour or so. It was a five-and-a-half hour drive from New York City to Laconia, New Hampshire, and with NYC holiday traffic to deal with, Luis was secretly grateful that Adrian had unintentionally woken him up. Though, the more he thought about, the more he realized it was probably very intentional.

Luis got out of bed and opened his curtains to reveal a dark and cloudy day. Luis actually preferred overcast skies to the bright sun, so the weather didn’t bring him down like it would some people. Adrian silently watched as Luis grabbed his clothes and headed into the bathroom to take a shower.

Luis tried to wash off all of the stress he’d felt during the last few months. The shower was really his only sanctuary anymore, given that Adrian followed him pretty much everywhere. He and Adrian had come to an agreement that Adrian would never come into the bathroom while Luis was in there without permission again, after Adrian had done it a second time during finals week. It took a few days for Adrian to get all of his abrasive behavior out of his system, but he had since calmed down a little. He was still a little too annoying for Luis’s liking, but it was better than it was before, so Luis tolerated it… sort of.

After a 20-minute shower, Luis felt slightly better. He was definitely warmer than he was when he’d gotten up. Even though he loved the cold and dark weather, he hated actually being cold. He’d been tempted a few times to stand closer than he normally would to Adrian, since he radiated intense heat. He was like Luis’s own personal space heater. Luis was trying really hard to look on the bright side of being followed by a demon for the next six months.

When Luis exited the bathroom, he saw Adrian sitting on his bed looking through one of Luis’s textbooks he’d thrown on the floor after yesterday’s class. He didn’t seem to be all that interested; he just mindlessly flipped the pages every few seconds, his long, slender fingers grasping the corners of the pages lightly. It was moments like those when Luis could see how… human Adrian was. He had sharp features, but he still looked soft. Luis attributed that to his fluffy hair. If Luis didn’t know him at all, if he were just some man sitting on a bench he’d passed in Central Park, Luis might’ve even liked him.

Luis didn’t realize how long he was staring until Adrian started smirking. Luis rolled his eyes and scoffed to himself, making Adrian chuckle.

“D’you get a good look?” Adrian said, laughing all the while.

“Shut up,” Luis muttered, barely audible. He was embarrassed at being caught and wanted to move on from the situation as fast as possible. He hastily grabbed a duffel bag from the corner of his room and started packing for the few days he’d be at his family’s house. He could feel Adrian’s eyes on him, but he didn’t turn to look.

He soon finished throwing together a random assortment of shirts and pants and socks and things, hoping he’d be able to make a decent outfit out of something. He slung the bag around his shoulder, slipped on his favorite pair of Reeboks, grabbed his phone and laptop — along with their respective chargers — and left the bedroom to head to the kitchen, Adrian hot on his heels.

“Wait, where are you going?” Adrian asked, genuinely confused. Luis had purposely failed to mention to Adrian that he’d be leaving for a few days. He’d told Kaiya a few days prior during one of the times that Adrian had seemingly gone back to Hell for a bit, so he wasn’t around to hear. Kaiya had left Friday night to go see her family, who lived on Long Island.

“The kitchen,” Luis said, hoping by some miracle that Adrian would take the hint and leave him alone.

“You know I go wherever you go, right?” Adrian said, definitely not taking the hint.

“Don’t make it sound so romantic. You’re basically just harassing me,” Luis said bitingly as he made himself a quick bowl of microwaveable oatmeal. God, he really needed to learn how to cook.

“I’m just saying. I can follow you wherever, so I don’t know why you thought you would be able to go somewhere without me knowing,” Adrian laughed. He was right, though. Luis really didn’t know why he thought it would work. He blamed it on desperate wishful thinking.

“So where are you going?” Adrian asked, sitting in the seat right next to Luis as he ate. Why did he always have to sit right next to him? ‘So much for not being aggravating anymore,’ Luis thought to himself.

“Nowhere,” Luis mumbled in a monotone voice. He really was excited to see his family again, but Adrian was on his way to ruining that. He just hoped that when they got to his family’s house, Adrian would have enough decency to leave him be, even for a little while.

“I guess I’ll find out eventually,” Adrian sighed sarcastically, watching Luis carefully for a response. But Luis just rolled his eyes and kept eating. He didn’t know how he was going to last five hours in a tiny car with Adrian. He wondered if maybe the long ride would be too boring for Adrian and he would prefer to stay in Hell until they arrived. That would be the best case scenario, though, and good things rarely happened to Luis.

After he finished eating, he put his bowl in the sink, grabbed all of his stuff, and left his apartment, heading down towards the parking garage. Adrian followed right behind him. Luis rarely drove anymore, since everything he needed was in close proximity to his apartment — one of the many perks of living in a big city. He never had anything like that growing up in the small town of Laconia. How his parents even came to live in such a boring town, he didn’t know. Both his mom and dad had migrated from Mexico a few months after they got married, and Luis was born shortly after. New Hampshire was such a dull place, and Luis never really liked it there. But he always felt at home with his family, and he was looking forward to seeing them again. It was also Christmastime, and though Luis was never a very festive guy — something Kaiya had been trying to change for years — he enjoyed spending Christmas with his family nonetheless.

Luis soon got everything packed in his car and he settled into the front seat, Adrian climbing into the passenger’s side after he’d checked that no one was around. From their previous experiment, they’d figured out that other people could in fact see the things Adrian moved, but not Adrian himself. Luis wasn’t sure what other people would think about his passenger door opening on its own, but he was grateful that Adrian didn’t give him the opportunity find out.

Luis put in the directions to his parents’ home into his phone, turned the car on, and looked over to glare at Adrian.

“Please don’t make this miserable for me,” he said, pleading evident in his tone.

“I won’t, I promise. It’s been so long since I’ve been on a road trip, and the last thing I want to do is deal with an angry Luis the entire time,” Adrian said, smirking. 

Luis rolled his eyes, but he wasn’t upset. He was glad Adrian was finally starting to realize that they needed to work together, not against each other, if they were going to survive the next six months without any mental breakdowns from either of them. Luis wondered when he became so mature.

Luis put the car in motion and pulled out onto the street, preparing for what might end up being the worst five and a half hours of his life, if Adrian decided to stop cooperating.

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An hour into the trip, everything seemed to be going fine, and Luis was on edge. Adrian had been relatively silent, only speaking up to point out people he thought were weird in the cars they passed or a tree he thought looked cool every now and then. Luis’s phone played soft alternative and latin rock songs, and it had started to sprinkle lightly. 

Luis was waiting for something to go wrong. His life hadn’t been that serene since as long as he could remember. He was almost… having a good time? He hesitated to think that he actually enjoyed the atmosphere — the quiet rain, the ambient music — and he even liked the warm body sitting next to him. God, he really was lonely. 

He never said any of these things out loud, of course, but something told him that Adrian knew anyway. 

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Another hour passed of this unforeseen tranquility. He couldn’t tell what Adrian was thinking. It was almost eerie seeing him be that quiet. Luis wondered if that was what he was like before he died and turned into a demon, if he used to always be mellow and unbothered. Luis found himself sneaking brief glances over at Adrian whenever they were on a long stretch of road. Adrian just stared out of his window, sometimes lightly bobbing his head to the music. The new, quiet Adrian confused Luis more than the brazen, obnoxious one.

Three hours into the trip, Luis started to get hungry, the low-calorie oatmeal not really doing much for him in terms of nutrition. He decided to keep an eye out for a restaurant, hopefully being able to spot one at one of the closest exits. He almost asked Adrian to look up nearby restaurants on Google Maps or something, but he didn’t want to risk saying anything and breaking the stillness in the car.

Thirty minutes later, he saw a sign for a McDonald’s. He hated the place, but he was getting very hungry and didn’t know when he’d see another restaurant. He missed the big city even more at times like that. When he pulled off onto the exit ramp, he saw Adrian turn his head to look at him out of his peripheral vision. He still hadn't told Adrian where they were going, and Adrian hadn’t asked.

Luis saw the McDonald’s sitting between a gas station and a liquor store — rural America at its finest. He pulled into the McDonald’s parking lot and parked the car. He rubbed his hands over his face to try and wake himself up a bit. Driving really took a lot out of him.

“You drove three hours for a McDonald’s?” Adrian looked at Luis, one of his eyebrows raised. Luis knew he was teasing, but he was exhausted and hungry, and he got snippy when he was like that.

“No, you moron,” he said before climbing out of the car and heading towards the restaurant entrance. He heard Adrian laughing behind him.

Luis went inside and ordered a cheeseburger and a Coke and handed over some cash to pay.

“You’re not going to get me anything?” Adrian said, his head cocked slightly to the side with a smile on his face. Luis just rolled his eyes but realized he probably shouldn’t have done that when he saw the cashier looking at him with his change in her hand, a slight frown on her face. Luis didn’t know what to say, so he grabbed the change and muttered out a quick “thank you” before going to find a seat near a window, Adrian chuckling at him.

Luis quietly groaned into his hands, feeling very bad about possibly offending the cashier. He hated the thought of customers being rude to cashiers, not only because his best friend was one, but because it was just a rude and unnecessary thing to do in general. He had become the very thing he always hated, and he blamed Adrian for it entirely.

“Can you stop talking to me in public?” Luis whispered so quietly into his hands that it was barely audible.

“Sorry, I can’t hear you,” Adrian said, but from the tone in his voice, it was obvious that he’d heard what Luis said and was just trying to rile him up again.

Luis looked up from his hands and shot him the dirtiest glare he could manage. It must’ve gotten the message across, because Adrian’s face changed from amused to apologetic.

“Shit, sorry. I really am trying my best to not annoy you,” Adrian said, and Luis almost believed him. He narrowed his eyes at Adrian and leaned back in his chair, before looking away out of the raindrop-covered window. Fortunately, Luis’s back was facing the front counter and everyone else in the restaurant, so they didn’t see him making weird faces at the air across from him.

Luis’s name was soon called and he went up to get his food. He scarfed it down fairly quickly, Adrian switching between watching him eat and watching the cars drive by.

“I’d forgotten what so many of these things looked like, you know,” Adrian said, so quietly that Luis almost missed it. Adrian’s head was resting in his palm as he looked fervently out of the window. Luis just blinked up at him, not knowing how to respond — not that he could, lest he look crazier than he already felt.

“Like cars and trees, and even fucking McDonald’s… things are so different in Hell, and time goes by so slowly. It just — it feels like it’s been centuries since I’ve seen any of these things. You never really notice them in New York, because it all happens so fast. But out here… it’s like a perfect balance of fast and slow. Does that make sense?” Adrian was speaking so softly, and his voice was so deep. He was looking at Luis now, his eyes seeming to pierce right through Luis’s.

Luis shook his head gently. How could he have any idea what that was like — to be in Hell? It sounded awful, and he found himself feeling bad for Adrian for the first time. He didn’t want to think about the fact that he would probably know exactly what Adrian was talking about in six months’ time.

Adrian just sighed and turned his head to look back out the window. Luis had finished eating, so he got up to throw away his trash. He went back to his table where he’d left his phone and keys, picked them up, and looked at Adrian expectantly. Adrian met his eyes and got up to follow Luis back out to his car.

Luis realized that that was the first time he actually waited for Adrian to follow him, almost like he wanted him to. Luis shook his head to clear his mind of that thought and climbed into his car, finding Adrian already in the passenger’s seat next to him.


	6. Chapter 6

The rest of the car ride went by as smoothly as it did the first few hours, much to Luis’s surprise. He felt more awkward than he had in the first half of the trip, though. He felt like his response to Adrian’s confession was lackluster, and he didn’t want Adrian to think Luis didn’t care, because, against Luis’s will, he did care. He had always been a pretty empathetic person, which is why his short temper around Adrian disturbed him so much.

If Adrian noticed Luis’s contrition, he didn’t say anything. He didn’t talk at all; he just kept staring at things that flew past the car window. Luis wanted to say something this time, to break the silence. He didn’t know why. He was sure it would only end in an argument like it always did, but he really wanted to apologize for seeming so cold. 

Though, the more he thought about it, it wasn’t really his fault he didn’t respond. Adrian was the one who decided to have a heart to heart in the middle of a McDonald’s. He had to know Luis couldn’t respond in public. Maybe he didn’t want Luis to respond at all.

But Luis still couldn’t shake the thought that he should say something. So instead of apologizing, he opted for small talk. There were still some questions he had about Adrian, some that he hoped wouldn’t set him off again. ‘That might be for the best, though, if I don’t have to deal with him around my parents,’ Luis thought.

“So,” Luis started, sparing a glance in Adrian’s direction. Adrian turned his head to look at Luis, waiting for him to continue.

“How old are you actually? I just assumed we were the same age — like, 21 or something. But maybe you’re older and look young, or maybe you’re, like, 18 and you matured really early. Or —”

“I’m 21,” Adrian interrupted Luis’s rambling, his closed-mouth smile on his face. Luis was a nervous rambler, and his cheeks turned red. “But I guess I’m technically 26 now, since I’ve been dead for five years. I don’t know how all of that’s supposed to work,” Adrian chuckled.

“Oh,” was all Luis could think to say.

A moment of silence passed.

“I’m 21, too,” Luis blurted out.

“I know,” Adrian laughed softly in response.

“Cool,” Luis said, and the conversation ended there.

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Luis saw his old street come into view as he turned the corner behind a wall of trees. As much as he hated the place growing up, seeing it made him feel comfortable. He passed the small, brick, New England-style houses that lined the streets, a few of the neighbors he recognized playing in their yards. It’d only been four months since he’d seen the area, but it felt like a lifetime. He was so ready to see his family again.

“You’re smiling,” Adrian spoke faintly. 

Luis didn’t even notice the slight smile on his face until Adrian pointed it out. He didn’t exactly know why he felt embarrassed, but the smile quickly left his face. Adrian sighed.

“Why are you so afraid of being happy?” Adrian muttered quietly, so quiet that Luis barely heard, but he did hear. What was that supposed to mean?

Luis almost lashed out and asked him, but he stopped himself. Why was that always his first instinct now — to get angry? He hadn’t always been like that, had he? Just like that, Luis’s mind was moving a mile a minute again, filled with questions about his psyche and Adrian and his own inevitable death.

Fortunately, he pulled into his parents’ driveway before he did something stupid like yell at Adrian and make everything worse. He quickly parked and turned off the car, unbuckling his seatbelt and hopping out after grabbing his phone. He opened the trunk of the car and grabbed his duffel bag and laptop. Adrian was still sitting in the passenger’s seat when Luis walked up to the front porch of the quaint, red brick house. It looked the same as it did when he’d left four months ago, but Luis wasn’t sure why he thought it would have. He was too used to New York City, where everything was constantly changing.

He rang the doorbell, and almost instantly, his mother opened the door and pulled him into a tight hug. She was only 5’2, making Luis feel taller than usually did. She was approaching 42 years old, but she didn’t look a day over 30. She was warm and comforting, and Luis missed her so much more than he even realized.

“Oh, mijo, te extrańé mucho,” his mother, Nina, said, kissing him hard on the cheek.

“I missed you, too, Mamá,” Luis replied, chuckling.

His dad, Alejandro, appeared in the doorway a second later. He didn’t hesitate to grab Luis in a bear hug. He was also shorter than Luis, standing at about 5’7. He was the same age as his mother, the two having been high school sweethearts. He clapped Luis on the back as the two pulled away from the hug, big smiles on both of their faces.

“I am so happy you have come to see us, mijo,” Alejandro spoke in his gruff voice. Nina was picking the stray lint off of Luis’s sweater, mothering over him like she always did.

“Of course, Papá. I’m just glad I was able to this year. Usually I just get so busy, you know,” Luis said, trailing off. He felt guilty for never really coming home during the holidays, but he didn’t want to let all of that get in the way of this year, especially not if it was going to be the last one he ever spent with them. He definitely did not want to think about that. 

His parents fawned over him and ushered him into the house. Luis glanced back over to the car and saw Adrian still sitting in the passenger seat, watching him. Luis thought he could see a slight smile on his face, but he figured he was too far away to see clearly.

Luis and his parents stood in the kitchen chatting about how Luis’s finals went and how Alejandro’s business was doing and what his mother’s students were like that year. Luis’s dad owned a small construction company and his mom was an elementary school teacher. Luis came from a family of hard-workers, and being a first-generation immigrant, he knew the importance of his legacy. He wanted nothing more than to make them proud, but he wasn’t sure how much he would be able to do that with a software engineering degree. Maybe he could code his dad a really cool website or something.

The family talked for about half an hour, and Adrian had yet to be seen. It was approaching 3 p.m., and Nina insisted on starting dinner early, knowing there was a lot to be done. She wanted to make Luis a big, home-cooked meal since he hadn’t had one in a while. Luis agreed to help her as much as he could, but she told him that he didn’t need to, both of them knowing but not saying that it would be disastrous if he did.

Nina started on dinner — chicken tamales with grilled mango guacamole on the side — with Alejandro’s help, Luis watching closely to hopefully learn something this time. His parents had tried to get him to help with most meals growing up, but he just never had the knack for it.

A few minutes after 3, Luis’s sister, Vanessa, arrived home from volunteering at a local children’s hospital. She was a great girl; she was going to go to medical school and become a neurosurgeon, something Luis couldn’t even imagine doing. He didn’t even want to think about having to stomach seven more years of school. Vanessa was also a senior in high school, and though Luis pretended like he didn’t care, the thought sometimes brought a tear to his eye. He secretly hated the thought of her growing up but knew she had to. 

Vanessa was surprised to see Luis. He guessed that their parents didn’t tell her he was coming. She gasped his name and jumped in his arms in a hug. She was also on the shorter side, matching their mother’s height. Luis smiled despite himself. He was so happy to be home. What made Adrian think he was afraid of being happy? He was happy here, and he was happy with Kaiya. What more did he need?

════════

Dinner was soon finished and the family ate together, talking excitedly about anything and everything. Luis was glad to hear that Vanessa had gotten all A’s in her first semester of her senior year. Luis had passed with A’s and B’s, and his parents were just as proud. Adrian still hadn’t showed up, and Luis was grateful, albeit a little confused. Why had he even bothered to join Luis on the car ride if he didn’t plan on staying? Luis tried to shake all thoughts of Adrian out of his head and enjoy his time with his family, where he could pretend like his life hadn't been turned upside down in the last week.

At around 7 p.m., the Valdez family settled into the family room to watch a random Christmas movie together, just like they’d done every year when both kids still lived in the house. Luis noticed that the house was sparsely decorated, as it usually was. His parents never really went all out for Christmas, but they still enjoyed celebrating it. Luis thought the holiday had become too corporate and overrated, but he was with his family, and that’s all that mattered.

9 o’clock soon came, and Luis was exhausted. He had driven for six hours that day and had woken up early to boot. He explained this to his parents as he told them he was ready to settle down for the night. They understood, of course, and sent him off to his old bedroom with numerous hugs and kisses. Vanessa made some dumb joke about his appearance, as younger siblings do, and Luis flipped her off when their parents weren’t looking as he walked towards his bedroom.

His room looked virtually the same as when he’d left. He had stayed in the room during the last summer and all of the summers prior, but there were a few of his mother’s items scattered around the place: books and clothes and a few balls of yarn she used to knit. His bed was perfectly made with warm linen sheets. Luis quickly stripped down to his underwear and nestled into the bed. He sighed, content with the day, though physically and mentally drained.

Adrian still hadn’t shown up. Luis was almost worried, but then he remembered that Adrian was already dead, and there were probably very few bad things that could actually happen to him. ‘Also, he’s really annoying,’ Luis added on in his head. He had started to be less hostile towards Adrian when he thought about him, and Luis didn’t know if he liked that. Sure, he had just preached that he and Adrian needed to get along, but it didn’t mean he had to like him.

These thoughts and more floated around Luis’s brain as he closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep. He wondered if Adrian would ever show up, but he ultimately decided that he definitely, probably, would inevitably appear again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spanish Translations:
> 
> mijo, te extrańé mucho • my son, i missed you so much


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning, Luis was a little confused as to where he was. Waking up in a new place was always a little disorienting, but Luis’s eyes glanced over to his various baby pictures hanging on the wall and he instantly remembered where he was. 

He quickly took a shower and got dressed for the day. He could already hear his parents in the kitchen talking and making breakfast. He could smell the delicious scent of pan dulce floating down the hallway as he walked towards the kitchen.

Vanessa was also already awake and sitting at the table. Luis sat across from her, still trying to wake himself up by rubbing his eyes. The dining room and kitchen were open plan, so the family could continue to have an unobstructed conversation.

“You only have four more months until you graduate,” Vanessa said in a sing-song voice to Luis.

“Thank God,” Luis sighed happily.

His mother tutted at his use of “the Lord’s name in vain.” She always hated when he did that. Luis just rolled his eyes playfully which earned a light slap on his shoulder from Nina as she placed a plate of pan dulce in front of him. He thanked her and dug in.

Luis himself was never super religious, even though his parents had taken him and Vanessa to church most Sundays. His parents weren’t crazy about it either, but they were definitely believers. Luis was a little afraid to come out to them as gay because of that, not completely sure if he’d receive their approval. But they had supported him instantly, and so had his sister. He knew he was lucky; a lot of kids didn’t get support like that. Of course, he’d gotten some shit for it in high school, and it was rough for a while, but most of his friends still stood by him. He’d turned out pretty okay, given the circumstances.

Luis and his family spent the day hanging around the house, playing some games, sometimes going off for a while to do their own things. Luis took to coding a random passion project. He liked to have something unimportant he could work on in-between the things he was actually required to do. He found it helped him maintain the love he had for coding and not turn it into a chore.

Adrian was still nowhere to be seen. Luis found himself feeling lonelier than usual when he was up in his bedroom coding by himself. He hated to admit it, but he’d gotten kind of used to Adrian’s presence and him just always being around, no matter how annoying he was.

════════

It wasn’t until Monday the 23rd that Adrian showed up again. It was midday and Luis was up in his old bedroom coding again, after spending the entire morning going shopping with his family. Why they waited until two days before Christmas to go shopping, he had no idea.

Luis was sitting on his bed in his favorite warm sweater and sweatpants, absentmindedly coding a program that automatically closed all of the windows on the screen one by one whenever you pressed a certain key. He realized that that sounded like something Adrian would find funny. Then he wondered why he cared what Adrian would find funny.

And like he heard his name in Luis’s mind, Adrian appeared in the middle of the bedroom, making Luis jump. It was déjà vu.

“What’s up?” Adrian said casually, like he hadn’t just scared Luis out of his mind.

“You have seriously got to stop doing that,” Luis said quietly through gritted teeth. He’s glad he didn’t yelp or anything, lest his family hear him.

“You’re fine,” Adrian said reassuringly, chuckling, but Luis’s heart was still racing.

“Where have you even been?” Luis asked against his better judgment.

“I was giving you some alone time with your family,” Adrian said off-handedly, strolling around the room and looking at the various knick knacks, just like he had in Luis’s room back in New York. He picked up some old photographs and things that laid on the desk in the corner. Luis wanted to yell at him to stop, but he was stunned by what Adrian had said. Since when did Adrian care about Luis’s “alone time”?

“You — what?” Luis asked again, his laptop forgotten next to him, as his eyes followed Adrian’s movement around the room.

“I figured it was big for you, you know, to see them. Didn’t want to bother you is all,” Adrian said, still taking in everything around him. He was almost like a toddler in that way, like he’d never really seen much of the world before. Given what Adrian had told him on the trip over, he really hadn’t.

“Oh,” was all Luis could say.

There was a brief moment of silence before Vanessa barged into the room.

“Mom told me to tell you to that you have to drive me to Summit,” she said demandingly. Summit was the name of the children’s hospital she volunteered at occasionally. 

“Uh, have you ever heard of knocking?” Luis replied sassily. She never knocked when she entered his room growing up, and it drove him insane. She never learned to do it, no matter how many times he complained to their parents about it.

Adrian snickered at Luis’s response.

“Yes, but I don’t care,” Vanessa replied just as sassily. Luis rolled his eyes.

“Why can’t one of them drive you?”

“Because Mamá is cooking and Papá had to leave for some work thing.”

“Why can’t one of your friends drive you? They usually do it, don’t they?”

“Yes, but they can’t right now. They’re busy —“

“Well, I’m busy, too —“

“I don’t care —“

And the two siblings bickered back and forth for several minutes. Adrian watched the exchange, amused. The pair seemed to argue about nothing until Nina appeared in the doorway.

“What are you two arguing about? Necesitas calmarte ahora,” she said with her hands on her hips.

“Sorry, Mamá,” the siblings said in unison. Adrian laughed from his spot on the bed. Luis barely stopped himself in time from turning to glare at him.

“Luis, mijo, can you drive your sister, por favor?” Nina asked sweetly. And Luis definitely wasn’t going to try to say no to her, so he titled his head back and sighed dramatically.

His mother turned to leave and called out a “thank you” on her way. Vanessa stuck out her tongue at Luis, and he did the same back. Adrian was grinning widely at their immature squabble.

“I’ll be waiting in your car!” Vanessa grabbed Luis’s car keys off of the bedside table and left the room, jingling the keys tauntingly as she walked.

Luis sat on his bed for a few seconds, trying to find the will in him to actually get up.

“She can’t drive?” Adrian turned to Luis.

Luis checked the hallway to make sure no one was coming before he responded.

“She’s already failed her driving test, like, three times,” Luis said quietly, and he wanted to laugh, but he restrained himself. Adrian laughed freely, though.

Luis finally got off the bed, slipped his shoes on, and headed towards his car. Adrian was following him. Luis wasn’t sure he missed that part of him at all.

Luis climbed into the driver’s side, finding Vanessa in the passenger’s seat playing on her phone and the car already on and heating up.

“Eres lo peor,” he muttered, prompting Vanessa to punch him in the bicep.

Luis saw Adrian in the side mirror go to reach for the door to the backseat but pause when he must’ve realized he couldn’t do that with Vanessa in the car. Then Adrian vanished into thin air and appeared in the middle of the backseat, a content smile on his face. His legs were so long that they were bent at an awkward angle so he could fit, but he didn’t seem to mind.

Luis stared bewilderedly into the rearview mirror, where he made brief eye contact with Adrian. Luis started to wonder why Adrian ever bother with opening doors when he could just teleport. He thought back to the few times during their road trip when Adrian had purposely opened the door to get in and out after making sure no one was around. Why had he done that?

Luis’s train of thought was broken by Vanessa telling him to start moving. He put the car in drive and headed to Summit Medical Center. He’d driven Vanessa there several times since he’d gotten his license. He didn’t mind driving her usually. He just hated being told what to do.

════════

Vanessa said a grateful “thanks” as she hopped out of the car and walked towards the entrance of the small building. Luis started driving off to the parking lot exit when Adrian popped into the front seat, startling Luis, as per usual.

The car jerked to the left slightly when Luis jumped.

“Jesus fucking Christ, can you at least warn me when you’re going to do that?” Luis yelled out.

“Nah, it’s too fun like this,” Adrian laughed. Luis grit his teeth and exhaled.

Adrian was back to being annoying again. Luis definitely preferred him when he was wallowing or whatever it was he was doing on the car ride to New Hampshire. Then Luis felt bad for liking when Adrian seemed sad, so he shook that thought out of his mind. He decided that he only liked it when Adrian was angry, not sad. He liked making Adrian feel a little bit like how he made Luis feel, but he didn’t like when anyone was sad.

“I have a question,” Luis blurted out.

“Oh no,” Adrian sighed. Luis couldn’t tell if he was actually worried or if he was just mocking Luis again.

Luis continued on anyway.

“How come you choose to open doors when you can just teleport?”

“Teleporting? Is that what you’re calling it?” Adrian turned his head to Luis and chuckled.

“Just answer the question,” Luis said impatiently. “Please,” he added quietly to the end.

“I don’t know. It makes me feel more human, I guess,” and Luis definitely wasn’t expecting that answer. He was back to feeling bad for Adrian, and he was starting to get tired of that feeling.

“But teleporting is hella fun, too” Adrian said, before popping out of existence. Luis braced himself for his imminent return.

Lo and behold, Adrian appeared suddenly in the passenger’s seat again a few seconds later, and Luis still jumped. Adrian laughed and leaned his head back against the headrest. Luis rolled his eyes but found himself biting back a smile. Why was he about to smile? Adrian could’ve made him crash or something. He shouldn’t have found that amusing.

The two men arrived back at Luis’s parents’ house a few minutes later, the rest of the car ride having been silent. But there had been a sort of joyous atmosphere in the car that Luis almost thought he enjoyed.

When Luis parked his car in his parents’ driveway, he wondered if Adrian would opt for teleporting or getting out like a normal person, but then he saw a few of his neighbors out and about in their yards and knew what Adrian would choose. Luis noticed that there wasn’t any snow on the ground like there used to be several years back. He chalked that up to global warming, and then he decided to blame all of his problems on global warming.

With Adrian suddenly by his side, Luis said hello to his mother who was still in the kitchen, cooking what looked like various types of cookies. Luis saw a tin of freshly-baked dulce de leche cake on the counter and his mouth watered. Dulce de leche cake was probably his favorite thing in the world.

Luis absentmindedly peered up at Adrian’s face and saw him looking wistfully into the kitchen, staring at nothing in particular. The look on his face suggested a feeling of bittersweetness. Luis would do anything in that moment to know what he was thinking. He didn’t mind Adrian like this, when he seemed human. It was the demon part he had an issue with. 

Luis walked into his bedroom, Adrian lagging behind a little. This trip seemed to change Adrian in a way. He had his moments, of course, but Luis noticed that he’d been more solemn than anything. 

Luis sat on his bed and continued working on his stupid passion project, while Adrian sat in the cozy living chair that rested up against one of the windows across from the bed. Adrian looked off into space, a now unreadable expression on his face. Luis thought hard for a moment.

“Hey, Adrian,” Luis called out to get his attention.

A small smirk grew on Adrian’s face as he looked over at Luis.

“Hmm?”

“Wanna see something?” Luis proposed, a bit hesitantly. He overthought his idea so much in the time it took for Adrian to respond. He started to think it was a dumb idea in the first place and he never should have said anything.

Adrian gasped dramatically.

“Not now, Luis. Your mother is home!” To add to the dramatics, Adrian placed a hand over his heart.

“Oh my God, no — okay, do you wanna see something cool or not?” Luis decided against arguing and went back to trying to cheer Adrian up a little.

“Yeah, sure,” Adrian said seriously, a slight smile still on his face.

Luis silently beckoned Adrian over to the bed and Adrian complied. He sat down right next to Luis, their arms brushing. Luis moved his arm slightly to try and escape Adrian’s heat but realized he couldn’t. The bed was smaller than the one in Luis’s apartment in NYC, so there was really no way that the two men could sit together and not be touching in some way. Luis just tried to ignore it.

He told Adrian to look at the screen, and when he saw Adrian staring at it intently, he pressed the control, alt, and shift keys at the same time. The program he coded worked, and the numerous windows he had open on his screen slowly closed out one by one, all by themselves. Truth be told, Luis was proud of how his silly little project turned out. He really enjoyed coding, and even though the result may have been pointless, he put a lot of work into it.

Once all of the windows had closed, Luis turned his head slightly to look at Adrian’s reaction. Adrian’s signature closed-mouth grin was present, but it looked like he was fighting not to smile wider.

“You coded that?” Adrian asked. It seemed to be a genuine question.

“Yeah,” Luis responded casually.

“Wow — I mean, that’s… adorable,” Adrian said, his smile getting bigger. He chuckled and shook his head. Luis didn’t know what to think about that response.

“I mean, don’t get me wrong — it’s insanely impressive. I was looking at your textbooks a while back and that shit makes no goddamn sense to me. It’s just — it’s not something I would’ve expected you to do,” Adrian said, the smile still present on his face.

The two men made eye contact, and Luis hesitantly smiled back, slightly. He didn’t know what Adrian meant about it not being something he thought Luis would do, but he didn’t really care at that moment. He was just happy that someone appreciated his work, someone other than himself. He never really liked to show Kaiya his projects, not because she wouldn’t care, but because he didn’t really like anyone to see. They were simple little things he did for himself, but he didn’t realize how much he liked the praise from other people, even if it was over something unimportant.

But Luis had wanted to show Adrian that particular project because it reminded Luis of him, and he’d wanted to make Adrian feel better. He didn’t tell him that, though, thinking that might be too far. The two had seemed to make some progress on their relationship. Luis was starting to think that this trip was actually good for them, even though he’d been so worried beforehand.

“Seriously, Luis, that’s pretty cool. Thank you for showing me.” Adrian clapped Luis on the shoulder, squeezed it lightly, and got up from the bed to sit in the living chair.

Luis’s shoulder burned from the contact, but it didn’t hurt. It was a soothing warmth, and Luis didn’t really know what that meant. He went back to working on his laptop, making some minor adjustments to his project here and there.

Before long, it was dinnertime, and his mom called him downstairs. Luis got off the bed and started towards the hallway, waiting for Adrian by the door, and why the hell was he doing that all of a sudden?

“You can go. I’m just going to stay here,” Adrian simpered at Luis. And so Luis walked down the hallway without Adrian behind him.

════════

When Luis went back up into his bedroom after dinner, Adrian wasn’t there anymore. Luis didn’t think much of it. He grabbed his phone off of the bedside table and decided to text Kaiya. The two had spoken briefly since the start of the break, but she was always so busy doing things with her family that they didn’t get a chance to really chat.

Fortunately, she said she had time for a FaceTime shortly after Luis had texted her. Luis made sure he didn’t look a hot mess before answering her call. Her jubilant face appeared on the screen, her tight curls bouncing when she moved her head slightly. She looked like she was in a living room, and Luis could see a few people milling about behind her.

“Sorry, my family’s everywhere,” Kaiya laughed. “They’ll be quiet, though.”

“I don’t mind. I’m just glad I get to talk to you again.” And Luis really was happy to see her. They spent so much time together in New York that it was weird whenever they were apart for more than a few days.

“So what’s new with you? Are you enjoying your family time? Excited for Christmas?” Kaiya rattled off questions, and Luis answered them all amusedly.

“What about you? Are you excited for Kwanzaa?" Luis asked. Kaiya’s father was from Ghana, so her family celebrated Kwanzaa. Her mother was American, so she just observed it and didn’t celebrate it. Kaiya had explained the whole dynamic to him the first semester they met. Luis thought it was cool to learn about things he never would’ve known about otherwise.

Kaiya chattered about what her family was going to be doing for Kwanzaa — how some of her dad’s family had flown in from Ghana to celebrate, all of the food she helped make — and Luis listened intently. He really missed Kaiya and couldn’t wait for January 2nd, when they’d both be arriving back to their apartment in New York City.

The two friends talked for half an hour before Kaiya said she had to go help with something, so they said goodbye and wished each other a happy holiday before hanging up the call.

As he laid down to sleep that night, he couldn’t help but think about how Adrian had said he was afraid to be happy. He didn’t think he was, it was just that not many things made him happy. He had his family and Kaiya and his passion for software engineering and dulce de leche cake… he was happy enough. Adrian didn’t really know anything about him. How could he say he wasn’t happy?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spanish Translations:
> 
> necesitas calmarte ahora • you need to calm down right now  
> por favor • please  
> eres lo peor • you’re the worst


	8. Chapter 8

The next day was Christmas Eve. Luis was awoken by faint Christmas music playing from the living room. Luis never really cared for Christmas music, aside from a few select songs. He especially didn’t care to be woken up by Christmas music.

Luis got ready for the day, taking a hot shower and throwing on some comfortable sweats, before heading to the kitchen where his parents had breakfast ready. He saw his mom and dad dancing together in the living room to the music, laughing together. The sight made Luis smile. He was glad they were still so in love after so many years. They seemed to be in a permanent honeymoon phase. Luis wanted something like that someday.

Luis had never been in love. He’d had a few short flings since moving to New York, but nothing that really lasted. Luis just hadn’t met the right guy yet, despite Kaiya’s numerous attempts to set him up with some of her friends. He hadn’t clicked with anyone. Of course, there were guys that he liked and enjoyed hanging out with, but the relationships always got stale fairly quickly. Luis didn’t know if it was the fault of the other guys or if he was the problem.

He ate his breakfast chilaquiles slowly as he listened unwillingly to the Christmas songs and watched his parents laughing and talking. They had noticed him shortly after he entered and said their “good mornings”.

Vanessa came into the kitchen around 10 a.m., not long after Luis. Their parents had come to sit down with them at the table, and the family talked over their meals. Luis enjoyed moments like these, when it was just him and his family doing nothing. It made him wonder why he even liked big cities so much, since there seemed to be constant chaos surrounding him when he was there. Luis was a mess of contradictions, he decided.

════════

It was approaching 8 p.m. and Adrian still hadn’t shown up. Luis didn’t know what would’ve caused him to leave this time. Usually when he’d go back to Hell to, in his own words, “tell his higher-ups how it’s going,” he’d only be gone for a few minutes. But then he’d have moments like this where he got upset and disappeared for hours.

The Valdez family had all taken turns opening one present — a Christmas Eve tradition they had every year. Luis had managed to pick something up for each of his family members when they’d all gone shopping the day before. They were small things, and his family appreciated them all the same. They knew he was a broke college student, so they cut him some slack when they received an assortment of candles and socks from him.

Luis laid down in bed that night with his mind racing, wondering why Adrian wasn’t around. He didn’t know when he became so preoccupied with Adrian’s whereabouts, and he wasn’t too happy about the development. Why did it matter where Adrian was? It’s what Luis wanted, wasn’t it? He wanted to spend time with his family without Adrian’s irritating presence. But he still couldn’t stop himself from wondering what was wrong.

Luis imagined it had a lot to do with being dead in general. Not being able to interact with anyone but one man who seemed to loathe your company probably wasn’t very fun, especially not during the holiday season. Luis wondered what Adrian’s family must’ve been like and if Adrian missed them. The more Luis thought about, the more he realized Adrian was probably upset and frustrated by the fact that he couldn’t see his family anymore, but Luis could see his own. The thought broke Luis’s heart. He couldn’t imagine not having his family around. He tried very hard not to think about the six-month death sentence he’d been given, and how he’d most likely be in Adrian’s position very soon.

As he tried to sleep, Luis’s face streamed with tears he’d been holding in for weeks. He was so overwhelmed — school, finals, demons, his looming death, global warming. He quietly sobbed until he’d run out of tears to cry.

He exhaled deeply and turned over to look at the old clock on the bedside table. It was almost 11:50, and Luis was exhausted, but he couldn’t shut his mind off. He stared up at the popcorn ceiling and waited for sleep.

“Are you okay?” Adrian whispered quietly in the dark. Luis’s closed eyes shot open in surprise and he sat up. The room was almost pitch black, but he could barely make out Adrian’s silhouette sitting in the living chair.

“How — how long have you been here?” Luis asked instead of answering Adrian’s question. His voice was slightly hoarse from all of the crying. He wasn’t sure if Adrian even heard him at first, because he took a few moments to respond. 

“A while,” Adrian spoke, quiet as the evening.

Luis hoped that Adrian hadn’t seen or heard him crying, but he knew deep down that he definitely had. Luis sighed and laid back down, keeping his eyes on the ceiling. He didn’t respond.

He heard Adrian get up from the chair and felt him sit down on the side of the bed. Luis looked over to him and could see the silhouette of Adrian’s head in his hands, his elbows resting on his knees. He heard Adrian exhale.

“It’s my birthday today — well, was, I guess,” Adrian said softly, his voice solemn. “So I guess I’m 27 now.” He let out a dry laugh.

The room was still. Luis didn’t know what to say. Was he supposed to say “happy birthday”? Luis thought that would be kind of fucked up, since the situation didn’t seem very happy at all.

Luis slowly sat up again and, though he briefly hesitated, he moved to sit next to Adrian, his feet planted on the floor. Adrian removed his head from his hands and sat up normally, looking over at Luis.

Luis still couldn’t see his face very well, but his blue eyes were so bright, and Luis could see them clearly in the dark. Their arms brushed slightly, and Luis shivered at the touch, despite it feeling white hot.

“I’m sorry,” Luis whispered after a long silence. Luis didn’t know what exactly he was apologizing for — maybe everything he’d ever done and said, not only to Adrian, but to everyone. He didn’t have to explain himself. He could tell Adrian knew what he meant, even if he himself did not.

“I’m sorry, too,” Adrian whispered, even softer than Luis.

The two men sat in silence again, but it wasn’t awkward. Luis was thinking and not thinking at the same time. He didn’t really know what was going on in his head anymore. He wanted to say something, anything, to Adrian. He decided he really didn’t like it when Adrian was upset. Seeing a man usually so brash and confident become so subdued almost hurt him to witness. What was the saying — the bigger they are, the harder they fall?

Luis couldn’t believe how much his life had changed over the course of two weeks. He thought he was an over-thinker before, but that seemed to be all he did now. He didn’t want to think about how his own death would feel or the last time he’d ever see his family or what the point of a degree was if he was just going to die before he could use it. He didn’t want to be followed constantly by a beautiful demon who was hardwired to bother him as much as possible. And he definitely didn’t want to feel bad for said demon.

Luis turned his head to look over at Adrian, who was already looking at him. Luis opened his mouth slightly to say something, but Adrian spoke first.

“Hey, Merry Christmas,” Adrian said gently, and then he disappeared.

Luis was frozen. He’d never felt so strongly before, and he didn’t even really know what it was he was feeling.

He went to lay back down in his bed. He nestled underneath the warm sheets and turned his head to check the time on the clock. It read 12:01 a.m. Luis closed his eyes and waited for sleep.


End file.
